Amazon Accelerates Development on Alexa-Powered Wheeled Home Robot
Amazon reportedly increases engineering resources for "Vesta," a waist-high, wheeled home robot equipped with Alexa and computer vision.
Amazon reportedly increases engineering resources for "Vesta," a waist-high home robot equipped with wheels and Alexa integration. The robot navigates spaces using sensor-fed computer vision and responds to voice commands to come when called. Although originally planned for release this year, the device is not yet ready for mass production.
The wheeled robot offers the same functionality as a standard Amazon Echo device, including music playback, timers, and calling capabilities. Internal demonstrations show the machine successfully moving through rooms while acting as a mobile smart speaker. This approach mirrors the concept of the now-defunct Kuri robot from Mayfield Robotics, which also features interactive household capabilities.
Despite the current production delays, Amazon continues to expand the team behind the Vesta project. There remains a possibility that the company cancels the robot before it ever reaches the consumer market. In addition to this robotic venture, Amazon also prepares a high-quality Echo speaker to compete directly with Sonos for a release next year.