Amazon reveals Vulcan, a package classification, power robot he with a feeling of touch

The meeting of artificial intelligence and robotics almost inevitably creates images similar to the terminator – but with Vulcan, Amazon has something different in mind.

Leaving the traditional “numb and dumb” robot, Vulcan is described as a “basic jump ahead in robotics”. Designed to use in its fulfillment centers, this is Amazon’s first robot with a feeling of touch.

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Today’s departure at the Amazon’s “Future Future” event in Dortmund, Germany, Vulcan is revolutionary. Aaron Parness, the Amazon director of applied sciences, says the industrial robot is “not just looking at the world, is feeling it, enabling skills that were impossible for Amazon robots so far.”

Amazon says Vulcan is built on the main advances in robotics, engineering and physical and is helping not only speed up operations, but also makes working conditions safer for workers. The company tells of the lack of awareness of traditional robots:

In the past, when industrial robots have unexpected contacts, they either stop the emergency or destroy that contact. They often do not even know they have hit something because they cannot understand it.

Vulcan helps to overcome the gap between people and robots, bringing greater skills to the equipment. The system is able to identify objects and knows how to handle them properly:

Vulcan can easily manipulate the objects within those divisions to make room for whatever it can grip, because it knows when it makes contacts and how much force it is applying and can at least stop any damage.

Vulcan does this using a “end of arm tools” that resembles a ruler stuck on a hair manager, plus strength reaction sensors that show how difficult it is pushing or how hard it is holding something, so it can stand below the point at which it risks harming.

Robots already play a role in completing the 75 percent of Amazon’s orders, and Vulcan meets the ability of previous generations skills.

Explaining a little about how robots work, Amazon says:

He also requested the new application of the physical one, including algorithms to identify which vulcan items may or cannot handle, find space inside the bins, identify the toothpaste and paper clips boxes, and much more. And we could not teach Vulcan with computer simulations, but he trained his physical data involving touch and obligation reactions. It treated thousands of real -world examples, from taking socks to the movement of fragile electronics.

Vulcan even learns from his own failures, understanding how different objects behave when touched and constantly construct an understanding of the physical world, just as children do. So you can expect it to become smarter and more capable in the years ahead.

Vulcan will come out for pages across the US and Europe over the next two years.