Mar 30, 2021 11:25:00

That Boston Dynamics announces the commercial logistics robot 'Stretch', a transportation robot that evolves logistics with a robot arm with a suction cup

Boston Dynamics, a robot development company that develops the humanoid robot '

Atlas ' and the four-legged autonomous walking robot ' Spot ', announced that it plans to market the robot 'Stretch' for working in warehouses and distribution centers. Did. Stretch will be the second Boston Dynamics commercial robot following the Spot , which went on sale in 2020.

Stretch | Boston Dynamics
https://www.bostondynamics.com/stretch

Meet Boston Dynamics' next commercial robot, Stretch | Ars Technica
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/03/meet-boston-dynamics-next-commercial-robot-stretch/

You can see what kind of robot Stretch is by watching the following movie in one shot.

Introducing Stretch --YouTube


Lifting the cardboard box in the center of the screen is 'Stretch' announced by Boston Dynamics.

Stretch thrusts a suction-type robot hand into the box ...

It was 'Spot Mini' that I lifted.

The whole body of Stretch looks like this. The mobile base at your feet can move in any direction, allowing you to navigate obstacles and ramps. Stretch has a built-in battery, but you can also keep it running by plugging in a power cable. The total weight is about 1200kg.

The robotic arm of the operation

degree of freedom in the same 'seven degrees of freedom,' said the human arm, so that the arm can reach even the back of a truck or container is a long reach and a large work area has been secured.

Two Stretches that dance lightly to appeal the freedom of the robot arm. Stretch is a commercialized model of the test-type logistics robot '

Handle ' released in March 2020, but unlike Handle, which was moving with an auto balancer and two wheels, Stretch has a box-shaped lower body mobile base. It has become. According to Kevin Blancespoor, vice president of product engineering at Boston Dynamics, Handle has been found to be difficult to maneuver in tight spaces, so it's a box-shaped mobile that meets the 1016mm x 1219mm pallet standard that's common in the United States. It was changed to the base.

Stretch carries the roller conveyor on its own as it enters the container.

The sensor next to the robot arm has scanned all obstacles and luggage in the container. The Stretch base is extensible and has a modular interface to which you can attach a variety of accessories, including sensors. For example, by attaching an additional sensor to the base, it will be possible to read the barcode of the luggage.

Luggage that flows steadily on the roller conveyor. Stretch can move up to 800 boxes per hour.

The tip of a robot arm with several suction cups. A similar sucker-type arm was attached to the Handle.

The suction cups firmly stick to the cardboard box. Stretch has a maximum load capacity of 50 lbs, which is stronger than the Handle, which weighed 33 lbs.

According to Boston Dynamics, Stretch is scheduled to go on sale in 2022. 'Stretch looks like this, but it's actually redesigned from scratch for cost savings, reliability, high performance, and manufacturability. The first unit was completed in the summer of 2021 and 2022. We plan to sell it to. '