--- title: "Amazon Built Vests to Protect Warehouse Workers From Its Robots" description: "Amazon's in-house design firm came up with a vest that protects its warehouse workers from robots by making them slow down." date: "2019-01-18" modified: "2019-01-18" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/amazon-vest-protect-warehouse-workers-robots" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "Amazon" - "robots" - "s" - "the digest" - "wearables" --- # Amazon Built Vests to Protect Warehouse Workers From Its Robots ![Amazon's in-house design firm came up with a vest that protects its warehouse workers from robots by making them slow down.]() *\Image: Amazon\* ## Magic Vest We already knew that working at one of Amazon's warehouses [could be hazardous](). Amazon Robotics' latest product could protect workers — but its existence is a strange vision of human-robot relations. *TechCrunch* [reports that]() the online retail giant's in-house design firm had to come up with a solution — in the form of a vest — to protect workers from warehouse robots. The vest sends signals to nearby robots telling them to slow down in order to avoid a collision. "In the past, associates would mark out the grid of cells where they would be working in order to enable the robotic traffic planner to smartly route around that region," Amazon Robotics VP Brad Porter told *TechCrunch*. "What the vest allows the robots to do is detect the human from farther away and smartly update its travel plan to steer clear." ## Bad Robots There have been a couple of incidents between robots and warehouse workers in the past. A robot malfunctioned in an Amazon warehouse in New Jersey [back in December](), tearing open a can of bear spray, and injuring dozens of workers in the vicinity. But safety advocates are paying attention. Last year, the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health put Amazon on its ["dirty dozen" list]() of the most dangerous U.S.-based companies to work for, nothing that seven workers were killed at Amazon's warehouses since 2013. It's a gesture of goodwill for Amazon's warehouse workers, but will it be enough to keep the robots at bay? Let's hope we won't find out the hard way. **READ MORE:** [Amazon built an electronic vest to improve worker/robot interactions]() \[*TechCrunch*\] ***More on Amazon's Warehouses: [An Amazon Warehouse Robot Sprayed 24 Workers With Bear Repellent]()*** ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()