The Stretch Gen 2 autonomous mobile trailer unloading robot from Boston Dynamics.
Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics has unveiled Stretch Gen 2, the next generation of its autonomous mobile trailer unloading robot. Stretch Gen 2 introduces major hardware and structural upgrades engineered to maximize uptime and streamline maintenance in high-volume logistics environments.
The team analyzed data from more than 100,000 operating hours and tens of millions of boxes that Stretch has already unloaded to target the most common causes of unplanned downtime. The result is a robot hardened for durability and an updated modular design that enables “plug and play” part swaps for easier maintenance and serviceability.
Features include:
- The ability to unload up to 1,000 cases per hour—dependent on case weight and how neat or disorderly cases are stacked.
- A multipick feature that pushes performance to peak rates.
- A battery that lasts two shifts.
- A fast charger gets the battery to 90 percent charge in about 75 minutes.
- Onboard lighting to make it work in dark trailers.
- A pre-trained vision system detects most packages from day one with no programming needed.
- Heavy-duty automotive-grade connectors that hold up to the vibration of rapid, high-torque box handling and driving over uneven floors.
- An upgraded gripper with new valve systems and more precise sensing improves grasping and placement to optimize fast-paced picks.
- New continuous rotation joints move beyond 360° so they no longer hit hard stops, which previously caused mechanical stress.
- Cutting 81 percent of the internal cabling – about a half-mile’s worth – to remove the biggest source of intermittent electrical faults and wiring wear.
- An emergency stop that now sits lower and is recessed.
- Exterior panels made with new materials so a falling box is far less likely to trip an unintentional safety stoppage or break a panel.
- A full swerve drive swap that takes about one hour.
- Dynamic cables and complex harnesses have been removed and swapped for standardized high-strength fasteners to cut down on tool changes and hands-on repair time.
- New onboard diagnostics and maintenance tools put more routine service in the hands maintenance teams.
- A redesigned onboard computing platform with regular software releases to bring gains in case detection, motion planning, pick strategies and world modeling across an entire fleet, with no hardware changes required.
For more information bostondynamics.com.
