Even the also-rans fared better, TechRepublic notes. Despite tougher demands, only four competitors failed to score (versus half in the 2015 challenge). Nearly half of the entries managed over 40 points, which would have been good enough to get third place a year ago.

TU Delft and other entrants aren't about to replace people any time soon. Human workers typically pick 400 items per hour, and they won't suffer the 16.7 percent failure rate of the Picking Challenge leader. As it stands, Amazon is quick to stress that it doesn't want robots to replace humans (at least, for now). They'd be supplements to the flesh-and-blood workforce, helping them fulfill orders more effectively. With that said, the rate of progress is brisk enough that you might just see robots like these in real Amazon warehouses within a few years.