Does Amazon want to make Rosey the robot a reality?

It is reportedly developing a home robot - and we can't help but think about The Jetsons. According to Bloomberg, which described the yet-to-be-announced effort as "top-secret", Amazon's robot project has an internal codename, “Vesta,” from the Roman goddess of the hearth. It's being developed by Lab126, Amazon's hardware R&D center, which previously worked on the Echo, Kindle, and Fire Phone.

Bloomberg indicated it could be a “mobile Alexa”, meaning it'd follow you around to places where you can't access or speak with an Echo. Prototype versions of the robots feature technology like computer vision software and cameras for navigation. Amazon reportedly plans to place them in employees’ homes for testing sometime this year, but a general public test wouldn't happen until "early" 2019.

Here's the thing: there are few details right now, and although we'd love to see a butler or maid bot, like Rosey, roaming around our house and performing a variety of chores, the technology for that is far from ready. So, we imagine Amazon's "robot for the home" is more like a roaming Alexa device meant to act as a hub for the smart home or communication and maybe even a personal companion.

We'll keep you posted as we learn more.