That's a nice bin-picking system. Bin-picking is a classic robotic manipulation problem [1], and they're doing a good job. They target the object and approach it from an angle where pickup is possible. The unusual thing here is the range of objects picked. Most bin-picking has a far narrower range.
It's a vacuum picker, which is limited; they couldn't pick up a perforated metal pencil holder. But over 90% of the items tested were vacuum-pickable. That's probably a reasonable figure for Amazon's inventory, since books are vacuum-pickable. Amazon can sort their inventory into machine-pickable and non-machine pickable.
The new system is really slow, but that can be fixed.
Really? I'd have thought they were one of a class that weren't. If you latch on to the outer cover, you'll splay the book, which can damage hard backs.
While the pick up tool did use a vacuum pump are you sure it is using that for suction? It actually looked like the end effector was something along the lines of the 'coffee grounds' pick up tool. See (http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/2010/10/researchers-deve...)
If it is that sort of gripper then it could pick up the perforated boxes just as easily.
It's a vacuum picker, which is limited; they couldn't pick up a perforated metal pencil holder. But over 90% of the items tested were vacuum-pickable. That's probably a reasonable figure for Amazon's inventory, since books are vacuum-pickable. Amazon can sort their inventory into machine-pickable and non-machine pickable.
The new system is really slow, but that can be fixed.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wh2GRA9enN4