The News, Explained
Boston Dynamics unveiled its Stretch Gen 2 logistics robot on November 3. It is built to take boxes out of a truck trailer. The wheeled base moves into position and a gripper at the end of its arm lifts the boxes. This is the stretch of warehouse work between a truck arriving and its boxes moving on to the next step. Source Source
The new gripper has more precise sensors, and joints can rotate continuously instead of stopping at a mechanical limit. Boston Dynamics says it removed 81% of the internal cabling. The changes are meant to reduce downtime caused by wear on wiring and connections during repeated movements and vibration. Source
Servicing changes too. Boston Dynamics says swapping the entire drive unit that moves and steers the robot takes about an hour on Gen 2, compared with a full day before. That estimate refers to replacing that particular part. Source
The manufacturer lists an upper bound of 1,000 cases per hour. The rate depends on case weight and stacking, and lifting multiple boxes at once helps it reach the peak. A trailer of light, neatly stacked boxes, for example, may clear faster than a mixed load that has shifted in transit. The announcement does not give a price or shipping schedule. Source
OYOPICK’s Take
For a receiving team, how quickly work resumes after a breakdown can matter as much as the fastest hour. Easier parts replacement could reduce the occasions when workers have to take over heavy unloading at short notice. To judge the change on a real dock, we would want to see how many cases it handles over a full shift with representative loads, alongside the time spent on maintenance. Source