Amazon Debuts Vulcan Robot with Human Touch | What It Means for Warehousing
Amazon has introduced Vulcan, its first robot with a sense of touch, now operating in Spokane and Hamburg fulfillment centers.
⏱️ Time Stamps:
0:00 – Amazon announces Vulcan robot
0:15 – Vulcan’s capabilities: Force sensors, suction cups & vision
0:53 – Hair straightener meets ruler? Describing the tech
1:30 – Why warehouse automation is gaining momentum
2:40 – Human dexterity vs robots
3:25 – Will Vulcan ever hit stores? Not so fast
4:00 – Naming robots: Why always sci-fi?
5:00 – What’s realistic: 10–20 year outlook for stores
5:45 – Final thoughts on Vulcan's warehouse potential
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Transcript
Amazon unveiled its first warehouse robot with the sense of touch, AKA Vulcan, according to Geekwire, because who else could or should bring you a story like this?
Speaker A:The robot uses force sensors, force sensors and AI to handle and organize inventory with human like precision, or Jedi like precision, if you like the use of the word force sensor.
Speaker A:Vulcan is already running in Amazon fulfillment centers in Spokane, Washington and Henry Hamburg, Germany, with future deployments planned across Europe and the US the robot mimics human touch to handle to handle items in warehouse bins using a specialized tool with force feedback sensors to sense contact and pressure.
Speaker A:Amazon describes the mechanism on the end of the arm as, quote, a ruler stuck onto a hair straightener.
Speaker A:End quote.
Speaker A:And it's worth checking out in the video folks from the Source article in Geekwire.
Speaker A:One part pushes items around to make space while paddle like arms gently grip and insert new items using tiny conveyor belts.
Speaker A:Another of the robot's arms also uses a camera and a suction cup to identify target and extract items without grabbing anything extra.
Speaker A:And this.
Speaker A:You get the lucky roll of the dice today, my friend, because this is the A to M put you on the spot question.
Speaker A:Take me to your leader is what's coming through my mind.
Speaker A:And there's been a lot of noise about Vulcan on social media.
Speaker A:Just you think all the hula blue is warranted, number one.
Speaker A:And number two, where does the application of this technology begin and end in your mind?
Speaker B:Oh my gosh, there are so many nerd references in this that I don't even know where.
Speaker A:Yeah, I went all in on nerd today.
Speaker B:Well, first of all, I have to say I love the description that it's a hair straightener holding a ruler.
Speaker B:Not what I thought of.
Speaker B:And I'm also surprised that the nerds know what a hair straightener is.
Speaker B:That seems very off brand.
Speaker B:Do you know what a hair straightener.
Speaker A:Let me ask you this.
Speaker A:Who came up with that description?
Speaker A:Description?
Speaker A:Was it a dude or a woman?
Speaker A:Like, it was probably a dude.
Speaker A:It was 100 a dude, right?
Speaker A:Like a hair straightener with a ruler?
Speaker A:I think so, yeah.
Speaker B:Oh, I would think the opposite.
Speaker B:Do you know what a hair straightener looks like?
Speaker B:Like, do you think the average man knows what a hair straightener looks like?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Is it actually a hair straightener?
Speaker A:Yeah, I guess it is a hair straightener too, versus a curler, right?
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:This is what I'm talking about.
Speaker B:This is.
Speaker A:I don't know.
Speaker B:That's why I'm like, maybe, maybe it's somebody else.
Speaker B:Anyway, that's beside the point.
Speaker B:But I just love that description because I thought that's not.
Speaker B:Does not sound like it's coming from Amazon.
Speaker B:It's very, like something for the common person to understand.
Speaker A:Very pr.
Speaker A:Very PR teased.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:But what I do think is interesting and why I do think that the hullabaloo is warranted is, is really kind of coming into the fore a little bit more even since we got here to World Retail Congress.
Speaker B:And I think that that's because we're hearing a lot of talk about investing in automation because it's one of the things that can help operations run more efficiently.
Speaker B:And that's something that retailers have control over in a very uncertain time when it comes to supply chain economic activity and disruption and all of these things.
Speaker B:So I do like that Amazon is pushing further to figure out how we can optimize all of our, our, our warehouse operations so that we can utilize our human workforce in a way that makes the most sense and that will be most advantageous to our business going forward.
Speaker B:So that's, I do think that this is really cool in that regard and if they can continue to, you know, make sure.
Speaker B:I mean, it's, it's really fascinating.
Speaker B:I encourage people to watch the video because it's showing like, you know, they, it knows how hard to squeeze a product.
Speaker B:Like, you're reducing damages.
Speaker B:You have control over that.
Speaker B:And those are things that you really have to train people on to do to make sure how to do this the correct way.
Speaker B:So if you can, if you can standardize this, I think that with, with automation, I think that's the way to go here.
Speaker B:But, but are you all in on Vulcan?
Speaker B:I can't even make the sign, Chris.
Speaker A:Yeah, not everyone can do that.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Not everyone can do the V.
Speaker A:Yeah, I mean, the other point too, I just make is like, you know, it's, it's, it's something that humans just traditionally do better than a robot, you know, regardless of training.
Speaker A:Like, it's just we have the dexterity and the, the ability to do this in a way robots can.
Speaker A:So it's been something that people have been trying to crack the code on for a while.
Speaker A:But, you know, I, I do want to go on a little bit of a rant here on, like, why are these names so dorky?
Speaker A:Like, why can't we ever name things that, why do they always have to name things after sci fi Things?
Speaker A:Like, why can't we name things after characters from like, Charlotte's Web or Anne of Green Gables?
Speaker A:And like, why does it have to Always be like Vulcan or, you know, Jedi or so, you know, I just.
Speaker A:Anyway, but.
Speaker B:But net, are you surprised?
Speaker B:I mean, I'm not surprised.
Speaker B:How many Big bang theories have you watched?
Speaker B:You know this.
Speaker A:I just get so tired of it too.
Speaker A:Same with all the tech company names like Penetrabe and In a Trobe and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker A:You know, it's the same.
Speaker A:It's the same realm, but.
Speaker A:But net.
Speaker A:Net, I think it's big news because like, you know, like we just talked about it.
Speaker A:Expand.
Speaker A:It expands the range of items that can be picked mechanically.
Speaker A:Yes, but it does it in a warehouse.
Speaker A:That's the point I would make on the second part of a question, which is where does this begin and end?
Speaker A:Because for the record, after last week's headlines, we got a lot of commentary on social media from what I would call some trolls, so to speak, about in store robots taking workers jobs for restocking.
Speaker A:And that is not going to happen anytime soon.
Speaker A:Like for that to happen, a lot of things need to come together and this whole concept is just, just taking shape in what is two warehouses that Amazon runs throughout the world.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I mean, for that, for us to get to that eventuality of this hitting in store reshocking and shelves, shelving processes.
Speaker A:You know, I'm thinking we're at least 20 years out on that at best.
Speaker A:Maybe somebody knows better than I do.
Speaker A:Yeah, I think we're, I think before we see that at scale across the industry, at least, I think.
Speaker B:Oh, it's scale across the industry.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:I mean, like it's going to be a long time.
Speaker A:At least 10.
Speaker A:You know, you got to go 10 to 20 years on that.
Speaker A:I mean, so, you know, so, you know, but it works.
Speaker A:You have to hit scale in the warehouse first because that's where the operation is more repetitive and repeatable.
Speaker A:It's done the same way every time.
Speaker A:Stocking a shelf is anything but.
Speaker A:That's why I'm taking the long, the long view of this, you know, in terms of the full impact of the industry.
Speaker A:But I think in warehousing it's, it's probably due to come here, you know, fairly soon.
Speaker A:You know, should Amazon and others like we've seen try to do this in the past, get, get traction with it?
Speaker B:Well, I'll take the under, Chris.
Speaker A:I'll take, take the under.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And we'll see.
Speaker A:Oh, you're betting today, huh?
Speaker A:You're betting on today, you're betting on Vulcan, but you're, you're bet on.
Speaker B:There's No, I just.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:I follow my intuition.
Speaker B:And today I'm taking the under.
Speaker B:Chris, so I.
Speaker B:You can't just bet when you get are put on the spot.
Speaker B:You have to.
Speaker B:You have to let the bet find you.
Speaker B:And this one, I'm taking the under.
