The most boring Boston Dynamics robot is coming to a factory floor near you

The almost irksome Boston Dynamics robot is coming to a factory floor nearly y'all

(Image credit: Boston Dynamics )

Boston Dynamics, the company best-known for its creepy Spot robot dog, has started to put its robots in bodily, real-life situations, starting with DHL warehouses.

The logistics giant has signed up for a $xv million deal to use Boston Dynamics' Stretch robot, which will be delivered to an unspecified number of warehouses over the adjacent three years in Northward America.

The task? Unloading trucks, a pretty fundamental office of the logistics procedure.

"Stretch is Boston Dynamics' newest robot, designed specifically to remedy challenges within the warehouse space," said Boston Dynamics CEO Robert Playter. "Nosotros are thrilled to exist working with DHL Supply Concatenation to deliver a fleet of robots that will further automate warehousing and amend prophylactic for its associates. Nosotros believe Stretch can make a measurable touch on DHL's business operations, and we're excited to see the robot in activity at scale."

"We're excited to partner with Boston Dynamics to deploy its best-in-class robotics in our warehouses," added Sally Miller, DHL CIO for Supply Chain. "The Stretch robot addresses circuitous industry challenges through flexible automation, which we'll exist able to replicate and scale regionally and globally."

Stretching out

The Stretch robot is essentially a robotic arm on a moveable base. The arm has various degrees of motion and a suction base of operations for picking up boxes and other items up to 23kg. Internal batteries offered eight hours of usage.

While picking up boxes might seem relatively simple, the procedure requires a lot of "thinking" from the robot, including assessing the 3D environment to both select and move boxes to the right locations.

"Stretch is equipped with a compact, omni-directional mobile base, custom-designed lightweight arm besides as a smart gripper with advanced sensing and controls that tin handle a big diverseness of box types and sizes," says the company. "It also includes Boston Dynamics' computer vision technology, which enables it to place boxes hands and without any pre-programming. Stretch is capable of working apart through complex situations like matted stacking configurations and recovering fallen boxes."

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Max Slater-Robins has been writing about technology for nearly a decade at various outlets, roofing the ascent of the technology giants, trends in enterprise and SaaS companies, and much more also. Originally from Suffolk, he currently lives in London and likes a skillful nighttime out and walks in the countryside.