Bezos invests in robotics firm

Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos has invested in a Cambridge, Mass.-startup called Heartland Robotics that is working with industrial robots, according to reports. Heartland is still in stealth mode, but says on its website that it's "combining the power of computers -- embodied in robots -- and the extraordinary intelligence of the American workforce, to increase productivity and revitalize manufacturing." That kind of technology could be useful to Amazon's fulfillment centers, which store and ship millions of products for the ecommerce giant.

Heartland raised a total of $7 million in funding. Bezos took part in the deal through his personal investment vehicle, Bezos Expeditions, Xconomy and Mass High Tech report. One of Heartland's co-founders is Rodney Brooks, a professor of robotics at MIT and founder of iRobot, a maker of robots for the government, military and consumers (including a circular vacuum-cleaning robot that glides over the floor).

Bezos Expeditions and Heartland Robotics didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Bezos has spent a lot of time trying to make Amazon's network of fulfillment centers more lean and efficient -- which might explain his interest in industrial robots. Are we going to see giant metal arms packaging up boxes at Amazon warehouses?

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About Eric Engleman

ERIC ENGLEMAN is senior technology staff writer for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal, covering online retail giant Amazon.com. Engleman tracks Amazon's increasingly complex business, spanning ecommerce, Kindle, cloud computing, and more. He's been covering technology and other industries for the Business Journal since 2003.

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