Amazon $AMZN (AMZN) announced Wednesday that it’s introducing first-of-their-kind robots with a sense of touch to its warehouses.
The robots, which the retail giant has named “Vulcan,” will make “workers’ jobs easier and safer while moving orders more efficiently,” the company said.
Aaron Parness, Amazon’s director of applied science, described typical robots as “numb and dumb,” which he says usually leads to them shutting upon “unexpected contact.”
“They often don’t even know they have hit something because they cannot sense it,” Parness said.
Vulcan, instead, is “not just seeing the world, it’s feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for Amazon robots until now.”
The robots are meant to work alongside workers, not replace them, the company emphasized, and are already being used in a Spokane, Washington, facility and one in Germany.
The company said the sense of touch allows Vulcan robots to pull things from crowded spaces that have “historically been challenging for robots that lack the natural dexterity of humans.” Now, the robots have “finesse” and are able to move items around to get what they need.
They will also replace the need for workers to reach things up high, which usually requires them to use a ladder.
Parness said the combination of Vulcan alongside workers “is better than either on their own.”