Amazon debuts robot with a ‘sense of touch’ using physical AI

At its Delivering the Future event in Dortmund, Germany, Amazon has introduced “Vulcan”, the company’s first robot with a sense of touch to “perform complex manipulation tasks, create a safer workplace and enhance operational efficiency”.

Vulcan joins a lineup of other robots that can all pick things up using computer vision and suction cups to move individual packages, which are then packed by human staff.

Vulcan’s sense of touch enables it to know when and how it makes contact with an object, as well as how to make room for whatever it’s stowing. It is also aware of how much force to use, which minimises damage.

It uses an arm that carries a camera and a suction cup for picking items, then the camera looks at the compartment and picks out the item.

The camera watches to ensure the suction cup has grabbed the correct item and not any extras.

The retailer said its “already changing” how its fulfilment centres operate and makes employees’ jobs “safer and easier”.

Amazon director of robotics Aaron Parness said: “In the past, when industrial robots have unexpected contact, they either emergency stop or smash through that contact. They often don’t even know they have hit something because they cannot sense it.”

“Vulcan represents a fundamental leap forward in robotics. It’s not just seeing the world, it’s feeling it, enabling capabilities that were impossible for robots until now.”

The new robot can currently handle around 75% of products Amazon offers and it is already being used at fulfillment centers in Spokane, Washington and Hamburg, Germany.

Amazon said such robots have created hundreds of new categories of jobs, such as robotic floor monitors to onsite reliability maintenance engineers.

Physical AI is used to identify which items Vulcan can and can’t handle, finding space within bins and identifying objects. 

It also learns from failed tasks and works out how different objects react when touched, so it can build up a more accurate understanding through practice.

Parness added: “Our vision is to scale this technology across our network, enhancing operational efficiency, improving workplace safety and supporting our employees by reducing physically demanding tasks.”

The event in Dortmund also saw Amazon reveal it is investing more than €700m (£524m) in delivery station technology across Europe by the end of 2025, is expanding same-day delivery to 20 more European locations over 12 months, showcased zero-exhaust-emissions, and is deploying automated packaging machines across Europe to reduce waste.