In 2021, Amazon surprised company watchers when it rolled out a house-roving robot named Astro. At launch, Amazon’s cute little robot was primarily intended for domestic duties, helping out as a home security and as a roaming Alexa speaker.
Reception was tepid, however, mainly because the robot didn’t seem to do much other than act as a mobile speaker and Ring camera, and the price tag was high at $999 (and soon went higher to $1599).
Now, Amazon hopes to give its mobile robot a purpose in life by pushing it into the workplace. This week, the company announced “Astro For Business,” which the company says is “a security solution for small and medium-sized businesses that combines robotics, smart security, and artificial intelligence (AI).”
As part of the pitch, Amazon is hawking associated subscription services (of course they are), such as Ring video monitoring and a new service called “Astro Secure,” a new security subscription plan tied to Astro that will allow it to perform custom patrol routes and scheduled patrols.
The transition of Astro into the workplace makes some sense, particularly given the high price tag for Astro (which will now be $2,350 for Astro for Business) and the more obvious use case of a roving security guard for a small robot that doesn’t do much more than move around and watch things.
According to Amazon, the company has been trialing Astro in the workplace over the past year, including one food and beverage business in Hapa. According to Hapa COO Jonathan Hebel, the Astro has helped keep an eye on the kitchen and give peace of mind around potential fire hazards.
“We use industrial ovens that, if not turned off properly, can easily start a fire,” said Hebel. “I used to drive back to the office at all hours if I wasn’t confident they were shut down. Now, with Astro, I’m able to check in via live view and triple-check that the ovens are off at any time—whether it’s 6 p.m. or 2 a.m.”
Amazon’s new retail and business focus for Astro makes me wonder if the company might eventually add additional customer-service-related features, turning Astro into a mobile shopper support bot. Amazon launched a business version of Alexa years ago, but I haven’t heard of any real-world use cases in which the company’s AI assistant in a customer service role. I have to wonder if that will change with the rollout of Astro for business.
As far as enterprise robots, Astro is pretty affordable and one of the few that isn’t sold through a robotics-as-a-service subscription plan. That said, I think it will need to add additional features (like customer service) before many small businesses bite.
And who knows? Maybe at some point, Amazon will take a cue from Tesla and build out a more human-like (and creepier) robot that can actually do stuff like lift things.
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