Boston Dynamics may have revolutionized the logistics industry with their new case handling robot, Stretch. Different from Boston Dynamic’s world famous robot dog Spot, Stretch is a mobile robot with its main component being a large robotic arm that moves up to 800 boxes per hour. It weighs 2,650 lbs and can hold up to 50lbs.

Stretch is ideal for environments such as warehouses, and moves freely with a mobile base comprised of multiple wheels. The wheels all move independently so it lets Stretch move in any direction including side to side. Boston Dynamics says the emphasis they put on this creation was mobility, and with eight hours of wireless operation in a single charge, Stretch will possibly be able to do much more work than a human in an eight-hour shift.

With many warehouses across the globe not having any autonomous equipment, Boston Dynamics wants Stretch to be affordable and useful for business owners. However, there are some factors to be skeptical about with this creation. Stretch’s arm uses vacuum suction to pick up flat boxes, but it won’t be able to lift up boxes that don’t have a flat surface. Then the throughput rate of moving up to 800 boxes an hour will be highly dependent on how someone’s warehouse is set up, and may end up being slower than a human if there’s restricted space.

Boston Dynamics looks to make Stretch commercially available for purchase in 2022, so hopefully by then they can determine a solution all of the possible conflicts it mentioned.