Most of us associate Boston Dynamics with four-legged Spot robots, commonly known as robo-dogs, which are a great advertising tool for the company. However, they are not its most profitable model. This title belongs to the Stretch model.
For several years, Boston Dynamics has been designing robots that could be useful in logistics, mainly for unloading transport. Stretch is the culmination of these works. And it is quite successful, considering that Boston Dynamics has just signed a contract with DHL. For $ 15 million, Boston Dynamics has committed to delivering a “fleet” of robots (exact numbers have not been made public) “to multiple DHL warehouses across North America within the next three years.” The robots will be responsible for unloading the trucks.
Implementation of the first Stretch units in DHL warehouses will begin this spring, and DHL plans to gradually scale the Boston Dynamics robots to additional tasks and milestones at multiple sites over the next few years, the official press release reads
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Robot Stretch is the perfect employee for DHL warehouses
It can work for 8 hours on a single charge and consists of a movable platform on which a robotic arm that flexes in many axes is mounted and ends with a head equipped with suction cups. It is true that it can lift a load with a maximum weight of only 23 kg, but it can do it constantly, without any interruption. A set of very advanced sensors is responsible for orientation in the field (i.e. in a warehouse), thanks to which Stretch supposedly does not get lost and is perfectly capable of determining the shortest paths between the unloaded truck and the space in the warehouse to which it delivers parcels.
Also read: The huge Stretch arm as the new Boston Dynamics robot
These arguments were apparently enough to convince DHL, which – like other logistics companies – says that it is necessary to automate the logistics industry as soon as possible and as much as possible. Mainly due to the huge shortage of workers caused by the global health crisis, but also due to the harsh conditions and rather poor wages offered to human workers. Robots will definitely not complain about these issues.
