Amazon building Vesta home robots

Amazon has embarked on an ambitious plan to build it first domestic robot, according to Bloomberg.

Codenamed Vesta, after the Roman goddess of the hearth, home and family, the project is being overseen by Gregg Zehr, who runs Amazon’s Lab126 hardware research and development division based in Sunnyvale, California. Lab126 is responsible for Amazon devices such as the Echo speakers, Fire TV set-top-boxes, Fire tablets and the ill-fated Fire Phone.

The Vesta robot could be a mobile Alexa, accompanying customers in parts of their home where they don’t have Echo devices. “Prototypes of the robots have advanced cameras and computer vision software and can navigate through homes like a self-driving car,” Bloomberg says. “Former Apple executive Max Paley is leading the work on computer vision. Amazon has also hired specialised mechanical engineers from the robotics industry.”

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