Amazon has begun rolling out a “new worker safety wearable” to over 25 of its locations over the past year, TechCrunch reported on Friday—namely, a “Robotic Tech Vest” that alerts robots to the location of workers within a facility in order to prevent workplace accidents.
Amazon has begun rolling out a “new worker safety wearable” to over 25 of its locations over the past year, TechCrunch reported on Friday—namely, a “Robotic Tech Vest” that alerts robots to the location of workers within a facility in order to prevent workplace accidents.
The vest in question has built-in sensors that allow Amazon robots to detect obstacles (in this case, humans) and maneuver around them. Amazon Robotics VP Brad Porter told TechCrunch that previously, workers would have to manually log their locations in an Amazon facility to avoid collisions with robots:
As TechCrunch noted, OSHA warns that studies suggest many robot accidents in U. S. workplaces “occur during non-routine operating conditions, such as programming, maintenance, testing, setup, or adjustment,” when workers may be “temporarily be within the robot’s working envelope.
