Stretch Before You Lift

⚙️ How it works: Stretch’s design represents a departure from the dog and human-like robots that Boston Dynamics is best known for, like Spot and Atlas.

• The robot is made up of a single arm carrying a sensor-packed gripper that uses suction cups to pick up, carry, and set down boxes that weigh up to 50 pounds.
• Stretch can unload trucks at a rate of 800 boxes per hour, similar to that of an experienced human worker – but unlike humans, the robot can work 16 straight hours without a break (and won’t suffer from back pain).

👁️ Looking ahead… Boston Dynamics doesn’t envision Stretch replacing warehouse workers entirely, as the company’s senior vice president of warehouse robotics told IEEE Spectrum; the idea is that their job now becomes robot supervision instead of lifting heavy boxes all day.