Amazon reports the development of a new warehouse robot, named Vulcan, capable of sensing certain items through touch.

The two-armed Vulcan, capable of manipulating items within Amazon's storage compartments, employs force sensors to detect contact with objects. One arm repositions goods within a compartment, while the other, fitted with a camera and suction cup, retrieves specific items.

Amazon states that Vulcan acquired its training through physical data, encompassing information related to force and tactile feedback, enabling it to handle roughly 75% of Amazon's inventory; additionally, the company claims the robot possesses the ability to autonomously enhance its performance over time. The robot has been deployed in operational settings in Spokane, Washington, and Hamburg, Germany, where it has successfully processed half a million orders thus far.

Vulcan represents the most recent enhancement to Amazon's extensive assembly of warehouse robots, a workforce numbering in the hundreds of thousands deployed globally to manage customer orders within their storage facilities. Notwithstanding criticisms that these investments are aimed at supplanting human labor, Amazon maintains that this is not the primary objective, contending instead that robots such as Vulcan fundamentally improve warehouse safety conditions.