Amazon Alexa-powered domestic robots in works; 2019 launch expected

Amazon seems to be working on domestic robots that will be launched in 2019, reports Bloomberg. The project is dubbed as Vesta, after the goddess of home and family in Roman mythology. The company will most likely begin testing the robots by the end of 2018, while targeting a 2019 launch.

Amazon has a robotics division that develops industrial machines that perform the automated work in its warehouses, but the new project is lead by Gregg Zehr, president of Amazon's Lab126. The lab is based in California and houses the hardware team that is responsible for the Echo and Fire line of products. It has also posted several robotics-related positions on jobs page.

Vesta could a mobile Echo device that can move from one place to another on its own, and can navigate its way similar to self-driving cars. The company reportedly hopes to have employees using the robots in their homes sometime this year.

Amazon is also said to be working on a new breed of Echo speakers that will offer virtual assistance for cars. The retail giant is said to launch the new speakers worldwide later this year after releasing a beta test for the devices in India in February. The report also suggests that the speakers might be launched sometime in June or July in 2018.

It's important to note that the company has previously joined forces with car manufacturers to introduce a range of features on their car's infotainment systems powered by Alexa. Back in February 2017, Ford introduced support for Alexa with its SYNC3 infotainment system. Amazon was most recently joined by the Automotive Grade Linux (AGL) development team, which was established in 2012 for automotive-based applications by major players such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, and more.

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Amazon's role here is to provide the code needed for compatibility across various platforms to better streamline the production of in-vehicle applications. This also indicates that the developers will be able to create a single version of their app which will work across a range of vehicles regardless of which voice recognition system installed.

If the company manages to bring these device to the market, it will be a huge leap pushing it way ahead of its competition.

(source)