Boston Dynamics Unveils Stretch, a New Warehouse Box-Moving Robot
Boston Dynamics introduces Stretch, a wheeled robot designed to lift and move up to 800 boxes per hour in warehouse environments. The commercial robot utilizes a specialized arm and vacuum pads to streamline logistics and improve worker safety.
Boston Dynamics introduces Stretch, a new wheeled robot designed specifically for warehouse and distribution center logistics. Unlike the company's famous dancing humanoid Atlas or jump-roping robot dog Spot, Stretch focuses entirely on the practical task of picking up boxes and putting them down.
The robot independently moves up to 800 boxes an hour using a massive robotic arm equipped with an array of vacuum pads. It lifts boxes weighing up to 50 pounds, unloads trucks, builds pallets, and navigates to different locations on its wheeled base. A specialized perception mast automatically seeks out and detects boxes in its environment.
Stretch evolves from Handle, a 2019 bipedal prototype, and is intended as a full commercial product rather than just a research project. Boston Dynamics plans to put the robot on sale next year to help warehouses meet rapidly increasing delivery demands while improving working conditions for human employees.