DHL buys Stretch robot from Boston Dynamics for $15 million!

According to foreign media reports, DHL recently purchased a batch of Stretch robots from Boston Dynamics for $15 million, aiming to further accelerate the automation process of its North American warehouses. The specific transaction amount between the two parties was not disclosed, and Boston Dynamics is expected to complete the delivery within the next three years.

The two companies have worked closely together over the past few years to develop and test Stretch, which was launched last year as the successor to Handle, a robot that Boston Dynamics launched in 2017 that combined wheels and legs for moving large packages around warehouses and fulfillment center environments.

Stretch has no legs, but it comes with a fully mobile base with four independently controlled wheels, a 7-DoF industrial robot arm that can lift 50 pounds, a custom suction gripper, etc. The robot will be responsible for multiple loading and unloading tasks in the DHL warehouse.

Stretch has a battery life of 8 hours and can be plugged into a power source for continuous power. Stretch uses the Pick vision system, which Boston Dynamics acquired when it acquired Kinema Systems (a 3D vision company) in April 2019. Pick uses high-resolution 2D and 3D vision and machine learning algorithms, and its highlight is that it can handle a variety of different types of packages.

Editor✎Irene/

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