Stretch

Two mobile robots with a white base supporting a tall black narrow pole with a telescoping arm that can move up or down it. At the top is a small oval with cameras. The robots have different lengths to the telescoping arm. — Stretch stretches its arm. Photo: Hello Robot

Stretch is a compact, lightweight, and low-cost mobile robot equipped with an innovative telescoping arm. It's designed for researchers developing robot applications to help people in homes and workplaces.

Creator

Hello Robot

Year

2020

Country

United States 🇺🇸

Categories

Features

Did you know?

Hello Robot cofounders Aaron Edsinger and Charlie Kemp met at MIT, where they were students of famed roboticist Rodney Brooks.

A man in glasses with salt and pepper hair sits crossed legged next to a mobile robot as he adjusts its stretchable arm. — Hello Robot CEO Aaron Edsinger with Stretch. Photo: Hello Robot

History

Hello Robot introduced Stretch RE1, a compact, low-cost mobile manipulator designed for researchers, in July 2020. With offices in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Atlanta, Ga., Hello Robot was founded by ex-Googler Aaron Edsinger and Georgia Tech robotics professor Charlie Kemp. Previously, Edsinger was a cofounder of Meka Robotics and Redwood Robotics, which were acquired by Google in 2013, along with six other robotics companies, including Boston Dynamics. Edsinger stayed at Google as one of the directors of its robotics program until 2017, when he left to cofound Hello Robot with Kemp. Kemp heads Georgia Tech's Healthcare Robotics Lab, where he conducts research on mobile manipulators to assist older adults and people with disabilities. Hello Robot launched Stretch as a research platform but the company says it hopes to see the robot deployed in homes and workplaces so that it is helpful to people in society.

A hand holds the end of the robots gripper. — Stretch's arm and gripper. Photo: Hello Robot

A mobile robot extends its telescoping arm to deliver a mug to a man who is sitting and reading a book. — Stretch will fetch you a drink. Photo: Hello Robot

Specs

Overview: Specs for RE1 version. Lightweight design featuring a low-mass, contact-sensitive body. Safe to interact with people. Small footprint allows it to work in tight and cluttered environments. Supports advanced teleoperation and development of autonomous behaviors. Open source code. Extensible hardware.
Status: Ongoing
Year: 2020
Website: hello-robot.com
Width: 34 cm
Height: 141 cm
Length: 33 cm
Weight: 23 kg
Speed: 2.16 km/h (max)
Sensors: Head: Intel RealSense D435i with IMU. Base: Slamtex RPLidar A1 laser range finder; 9-DOF inertial measurement unit (IMU). Arm: Force sensing via motor current. Wrist: 3-DOF accelerometer.
Actuators: Arm: Single motor. Base: Differential two wheel. Wrist: Support for Dynamixel X-Series
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 6 (Arm: 4 DoF [Lift: 1 DoF; Telescoping links: 1 DoF; Wrist: 1 DoF; Gripper: 1 DoF]; Base: 2 DoF)
Materials: Arm with custom carbon fiber links. Head, shoulder, and mobile base have polyurethane covers.
Compute: Intel i5-8259U, 16 GB RAM, 480 GB SSD, 4-channel ReSpeaker MicArray, 8-W stereo audio out with volume adjust.
Software: Ubuntu 18.04 LTS, ROS Melodic. Code is open source and available on GitHub. Custom code written almost entirely in Python and firmware based on open source Arduino sketches.
Power: 18-Ah 12-V DC sealed lead acid battery
Cost: $17,950