Vulcan: Amazon's first robot with a sense of touch

Amazon presented its first robot with a sense of touch at its "Delivering the Future" event taking place today, Wednesday, in Dortmund. According to its developers, the model, called "Vulcan", opens up new possibilities for improving work processes and facilities thanks to its ability to understand when and how it comes into contact with an object.

In future, Vulcan will be used in Amazon's logistics centers, where it places items in or removes them from fabric-covered containers. The robot has two arms for this purpose. As the compartments are only around 30 cm long and each usually holds up to ten items, Amazon says that this task has so far been a challenge for robots that lack the natural dexterity of humans. Vulcan, on the other hand, can easily grab and move objects in these compartments to make room for what it needs to store. Thanks to AI, it knows when to make contact and how much force to exert, thus avoiding damage.

Reaching your destination with a paddle and camera

Vulcan uses an "arm-end tool" to add items, which resembles a ruler glued to a straightening iron. This pushes aside the items already in the compartments to make room for the new items. The arms of the straightener ("paddle") hold the item to be added, adjusting their grip strength to its size and shape, and then push it into the bin using integrated conveyor belts. The robot uses force feedback sensors to tell it how hard it is pushing or how firmly it is holding something so that it stays below the limit where it could cause damage.

Vulcan also uses an arm with a stereo vision camera and a suction cup to remove objects from the bins. The camera looks into the compartment and the robot selects the object to be removed and the best place to grab it. While the suction cup grasps the object, the camera checks whether the correct object has been removed.

According to Aaron Parness, Director of Robotics AI at Amazon, physical AI had to be used in a new way for Vulcan. For example, algorithms were needed to identify objects that Vulcan can grasp, to search for space in containers, to identify toothpaste tubes and paper clip boxes and much more. According to Parness, Amazon could not simply train Vulcan with computer simulations, but needed physical data that takes into account touch and force feedback. All in all, Vulcan had to cope with thousands of real-world examples, from picking up socks to transporting sensitive electronic devices.

In good company

According to Amazon, Vulcan learns from its own mistakes, finds out how different objects behave when touched and gradually builds up an understanding of the physical world. This is comparable to how children learn. It can therefore be assumed that the robot will become increasingly intelligent and powerful in the coming years.

According to Amazon, Vulcan currently handles around three quarters of the millions of products in the company's range and moves stock at a speed comparable to that of human employees. According to the developers, Vulcan is also intelligent enough to recognize when it is unable to move a particular item. In this case, it can ask a human partner for help.

Vulcan is not the first robot to be used by Amazon to move items. The Sparrow, Cardinal and Robin systems use computer vision and suction cups to move individual products or packages that have been packed by human employees. Proteus, Titan and Hercules lift and transport trolleys of goods in Amazon's logistics centers. Incidentally, it is no coincidence that the robot with a sense of touch is being presented in Germany: Vulcan is being tested at Amazon's logistics center in Winsen near Hamburg. (nij)