Boston and Cambridge, MA – February 5, 2025 – Boston Dynamics and the Robotics & AI Institute (formerly The AI Institute) today announced a partnership to advance humanoid robots through reinforcement learning. Together, the two organizations will establish a shared reinforcement learning training pipeline for the new electric Atlas robot to build dynamic and generalizable mobile manipulation behavior. The work, which kicked off this month, brings together two of the industry’s leading research teams to advance robot technology and to produce new capabilities on Atlas.

The partnership expands upon previous collaborations between Boston Dynamics and the Robotics & AI Institute (RAI Institute), including joint development work on Spot’s Reinforcement Learning Researcher Kit. Released last year, the kit trains unique behavior and modes of locomotion on the quadruped, and was used to achieve record running speeds of 11.5 mph (5.2 m/s.) This collaboration builds upon that work, with a new focus on humanoid robots. The project has several objectives:

• Develop sim-to-real for mobility: Despite advances in fast parallel simulators and sophisticated policy optimization techniques, transferring simulation results to real robotic hardware remains one of the most challenging aspects of applying reinforcement learning in robotics. To bridge the sim-to-reality gap, the teams will collaborate to train policies that generate a variety of agile behavior on physical hardware to achieve novel, robust and practical locomotion behavior.
• Improve whole body loco-manipulation: A robot’s capability to manipulate objects and fixtures, such as doors and levers, in conjunction with locomotion would significantly enhance its utility. The team will explore developing new policies to improve robustness in these scenarios.
• Explore full-body contact strategies: This work will explore high-performance, whole-body locomotion and tasks that require full-body contact strategies, such as dynamic running and full-body manipulation of heavy objects, necessitating close coordination between the arms and legs. The aim is to utilize reinforcement learning to generate such behavior during complex contact events without imposing strict requirements.

“We are living in an extremely exciting time for humanoid robot development,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “But for humanoids to be useful, they must be flexible enough to work in many different kinds of environments and perform tasks in a wide variety of applications. Our collaboration with the RAI Institute brings together two of the world’s leading robotics organizations to help accelerate core capabilities needed to make robots like Atlas a valuable tool in people’s lives.”

“Our aim at RAI is to develop technology that enables future generations of intelligent machines,” said Marc Raibert, executive director of the RAI Institute. “Working on Atlas with Boston Dynamics enables us to make advances in reinforcement learning on arguably the most sophisticated humanoid robot available. This work will play a crucial role in advancing the capabilities of humanoids not only by expanding its skillset, but also streamlining the process to achieve new skills.”

Boston Dynamics has a longstanding reputation for creating groundbreaking advances in dynamic robots, from extreme mobility to bimanual manipulation. The latest generation of Atlas is the result of years of hardware and software co-design aimed at building the most capable humanoid platform, both in terms of physical capability and software interfaces for authoring behavior. This makes it an ideal platform for advancing the science of AI-based manipulation skills.

The RAI Institute is a research organization focused on solving the most important problems in artificial intelligence related to robotics, with the goal of achieving fundamental advances in what robotics and other intelligent machines can do. The organization’s work is focused on developing the perception, situational understanding, reasoning and other cognitive functions underpinning robots’ abilities and combining them with advances in their physical capabilities. Partnering with Boston Dynamics for this collaboration will both build upon the RAI Institute’s existing research in AI and learning, and help the organization further advance the technology as it applies to other robot platforms.

The organizations will periodically release updates on this collaborative work, including publications and demonstrations with Atlas.

About Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest industrial challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites to warehouses and distribution centers. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch®, a box-moving robot currently being deployed with logistics and retail customers; and Atlas®, our humanoid platform currently in development. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

About Robotics & AI Institute (RAI Institute)

The Robotics & AI Institute (formerly The AI Institute) is a research organization that aims to solve the most important and fundamental problems in AI and robotics. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the RAI Institute unites top talent in robotics, perception, AI, machine learning, computer science and engineering to develop future generations of intelligent machines. The Institute works in four core areas of research: cognitive AI, athletic AI, organic hardware design and ethics related to robotics. The Institute’s culture is designed to combine the best features of a university research lab with the best features of a corporate development lab. Led by Marc Raibert, founder of Boston Dynamics, the RAI Institute develops technology that will increase productivity, contribute to human safety, care for people with disabilities, and help people live their lives more fully. For more information, please visit: https://www.rai-inst.com.

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“We are pleased to resolve this dispute on mutually advantageous terms,” said Jason Fiorillo, Chief Legal Officer at Boston Dynamics. “We look forward to collaborating on common ground issues where our two companies might collaborate in the future, to advance the state of robotics in the United States and around the world.”

“This resolution allows us to focus on driving innovation in robotics,” said Gavin Kenneally, Co-founder and CEO of Ghost Robotics. “This agreement underscores our shared commitment to advancing the progress of legged robots while fostering new opportunities for collaboration on key policy and technological initiatives.”

Potential areas of alignment include policy engagement around a national robotics strategy and policy initiatives that stimulate the responsible development and deployment of mobile robotics and artificial intelligence. Collectively, Ghost Robotics and Boston Dynamics have sold thousands of robots into commercial, governmental and public safety customers in the U.S. and its allies abroad. The two companies believe that stronger policy direction is needed on a range of industry issues, including making firm commitments to use robotics in governmental applications, addressing supply chain shortages for critical components, establishing safety and ethics standards that would prevent misuse of these emerging technologies, and spurring additional investment for U.S. led research, development, and manufacturing.

“Currently, the United States has no national robotics strategy,” said Fiorillo. “Countries like China are heavily investing in robotics and AI, and setting aggressive technology acceleration goals at a national level. Without more direct interest and engagement from policymakers, the U.S. risks falling behind.” Representatives from Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics plan to meet in early 2025 to discuss further policy proposals that could benefit both companies and the industry at large.

About Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying autonomous mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest industrial challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites to warehouses and distribution centers. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot^®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch^®, a box-moving robot currently being deployed with logistics and retail customers; and Atlas^®, our humanoid platform currently in development. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

About Ghost Robotics

Founded in 2015, Philadelphia-based Ghost Robotics develops Quadrupedal Unmanned Ground Vehicles, or Q-UGV® for short. Ghost’s Q-UGVs not only manage unstructured terrain well but are built for demanding customers in demanding environments. Their robots have a place in a broad range of government and enterprise applications where mobile robots with four legs have inherent advantages over wheels, tracks and even bipedal systems. To learn more about Ghost Robotics, visit www.ghostrobotics.io

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BOSTON (October 16, 2024) – Boston Dynamics and Toyota Research Institute (TRI) announced today they will join forces, combining two of the world’s leaders in artificial intelligence and robotics. The research partnership aims to accelerate the development of general-purpose humanoid robots utilizing TRI’s Large Behavior Models and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot.

“There has never been a more exciting time for the robotics industry, and we look forward to working with TRI to accelerate the development of general-purpose humanoids,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “This partnership is an example of two companies with a strong research-and-development foundation coming together to work on many complex challenges and build useful robots that solve real-world problems.”

“Recent advances in AI and machine learning hold tremendous potential for advancing physical intelligence,” said Gill Pratt, chief scientist for Toyota and CEO of TRI. “The opportunity to implement TRI’s state-of-the-art AI technology on Boston Dynamics’ hardware is game-changing for each of our organizations as we work to amplify people and improve quality of life.”

Boston Dynamics has a longstanding reputation for creating groundbreaking advances in humanoids, from extreme mobility to bimanual manipulation. The latest generation of Atlas is the result of years of hardware/software co-design aimed at building the most capable humanoid platform, both in terms of physical capability and software interfaces for authoring whole-body behaviors. This makes it an ideal platform for advancing the science of AI-based manipulation skills.

Concurrently, TRI is widely recognized as a world leader in the rapid advancement of Large Behavior Models (LBMs) for robotics. This includes groundbreaking work on diffusion policy, which pioneered the successful application of generative AI to advance dexterous manipulation capabilities in robotics. TRI has also played a leading role in the development of open-source robot AI models and datasets. Leveraging additional strength in computer vision and large-language model training, TRI’s work on LBMs aims to achieve multi-task, vision-and-language-conditioned foundation models for dexterous manipulation.

Scott Kuindersma, senior director of Robotics Research at Boston Dynamics, and Russ Tedrake, vice president of Robotics Research at Toyota Research Institute, will co-lead the Boston-based research partnership.

The project is designed to leverage the strengths and expertise of each partner equally. The physical capabilities of the new electric Atlas robot, coupled with the ability to programmatically command and teleoperate a broad range of whole-body bimanual manipulation behaviors, will allow research teams to deploy the robot across a range of tasks and collect data on its performance. This data will, in turn, be used to support the training of advanced LBMs, utilizing rigorous hardware and simulation evaluation to demonstrate that large, pre-trained models can enable the rapid acquisition of new robust, dexterous, whole-body skills.

The joint team will also conduct research to answer fundamental training questions for humanoid robots, the ability of research models to leverage whole-body sensing, and understanding human-robot interaction and safety/assurance cases to support these new capabilities.

About Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest industrial challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites to warehouses and distribution centers. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch®, a box-moving robot currently being deployed with logistics and retail customers; and Atlas®, our humanoid platform currently in development. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

About Toyota Research Institute

Toyota Research Institute (TRI) conducts research to amplify human ability, focusing on making our lives safer and more sustainable. Led by Dr. Gill Pratt, TRI’s team of researchers develops technologies to advance energy and materials, human-centered artificial intelligence, human interactive driving, and robotics. Established in 2016, TRI has offices in Los Altos, California, and Cambridge, Massachusetts. For more information about TRI, please visit http://tri.global.

Media Contacts:

Boston Dynamics

media@bostondynamics.com 

Toyota Research Institute

comms@tri.global

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This bill was filed by State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and State Sen. Michael Moore. Key civil rights groups and industry associations, including the ACLU of Massachusetts, MassRobotics, and the Association for Uncrewed Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) have come together in support of the bill.

Advanced mobile robots are incredible tools that can enrich our lives and keep people safe, but makeshift efforts to weaponize general purpose robots threaten public trust and acceptance of this emerging technology. We recently led a consortium of six leading robotics companies calling on policymakers to ensure the ethical use of general purpose robots and prohibit their misuse. We are proud to have worked in collaboration with Representative Sabadosa, Senator Moore, civil rights advocates, and robotics industry leaders, to help develop the nation’s first comprehensive legislation on this topic, in our home state of Massachusetts.

Brendan Schulman, Vice President of Policy & Government Relations at Boston Dynamics

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Hamburg, Germany / Waltham, MA, USA – September 11, 2023 – The Otto Group, one of the world’s largest e-commerce retailers, has signed a strategic agreement with Boston Dynamics, the global leader in mobile robotics, to continue automating its logistics operations. The plan is to deploy Boston Dynamics’ Spot^® robots in more than 10 and Stretch robots in more than 20 of the group’s facilities over the next two years, beginning with Hermes Fulfilment. The deployment supports Otto Group’s efforts to improve safety, increase operational efficiency and address labor shortages for specific types of warehouse work and the agreement marks the first time both of Boston Dynamics’ commercially available robots will be deployed together at enterprise scale.

Under the terms of the agreement, Spot, the four-legged mobile robot from Boston Dynamics, will support tunnel inspections and predictive maintenance activities for operations equipment, including thermal monitoring, analog gauge reading and acoustic detection of pressurized air and gas leaks. The Spot fleet will also run autonomous missions, collecting data for machine learning models to support tasks like fire exit egress monitoring and detecting slight changes in storage racks to keep Otto Group’s warehouses even safer. In addition, the Otto Group will be utilizing Stretch, Boston Dynamics’ box-moving robot designed for warehouse applications. Stretch will begin unloading containers at 10 facilities next year, with the goal of having all sites operational by the end of 2025. Stretch, which is particularly useful for unloading heavy packages in the container sector, will provide technological support for physically demanding activities.

“The cooperation with Boston Dynamics is another important step for us to position ourselves for the future,” says Kay Schiebur, Member of the Executive Board, Services, Otto Group, and adds “We strive for the best service for our customers and an innovative work environment for our employees. Robotics and AI are and will become even more central components of our daily work.”

The Otto Group offers a comprehensive training program to equip staff with the skills to work with robotics and AI. More than 10,000 warehouse and facility workers have participated in the company’s TechUcation virtual training courses so far. This training is supplemented with concrete on-site training, enabling existing job profiles to develop digitally and shape the future together.

“We have learned to adapt quickly and flexibly to new market situations, which makes us strong for the future,” emphasizes Schiebur. The Otto Group and Boston Dynamics also plan to collaborate on research and development, including additional future use cases for both Spot and Stretch robots over the next several years.

“As one of Europe’s most innovative and forward-thinking companies, the Otto Group is an excellent fit for our technology,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “This agreement represents a strategic collaboration that will benefit both our companies for years to come, and we look forward to seeing the value our mobile robots can provide when combined with Otto Group’s deep expertise in logistics and fulfillment.”

About Otto Group
Founded in Germany in 1949, today the Otto Group is a globally active retail and services group with around 41,000 employees in 30 major company groups primarily active in the economic regions of Germany, the rest of Europe, and the USA. Its business activities span the Platforms, Brand Concepts, Retailers, Services and Financial Services segments. In the 2022/23 financial year (to 28 February) the Otto Group generated revenues of 16.2 billion euros. With online revenues of approximately 12 billion euros, the Otto Group is one of the world’s largest online retailers. The Group’s particular strength is the broad market presence of its differentiated product assortments and service offers to diverse customer target groups in the world’s relevant economic regions. Numerous strategic partnerships and joint ventures provide the Otto Group with excellent opportunities to transfer know-how and leverage areas of synergy potential. Group companies demonstrate a high degree of corporate responsibility and willingness to collaborate with one another; at the same time this guarantees flexibility, customer proximity and optimal target-group appeal in their respective national markets. To learn more, go to ottogroup.com.

About Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest industrial challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from manufacturing facilities, power plants, and construction sites to warehouses and distribution centers. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch, a box-moving robot currently being deployed with logistics and retail customers; and Atlas®, our bipedal research and development platform. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

Press contacts

Otto Group, Annette Siragusano +49 40 6461 3982 annette.siragusano@ottogroup.com
Otto Group, Lena Hufmann +49 40 6461 5922 lena.hufmann@ottogroup.com

Boston Dynamics, +1 781 248 4745 media@bostondynamics.com

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We are some of the world’s leading companies dedicated to introducing new generations of advanced mobile robotics to society. These new generations of robots are more accessible, easier to operate, more autonomous, affordable, and adaptable than previous generations, and capable of navigating into locations previously inaccessible to automated or remotely-controlled technologies. We believe that advanced mobile robots will provide great benefit to society as co-workers in industry and companions in our homes.

As with any new technology offering new capabilities, the emergence of advanced mobile robots offers the possibility of misuse. Untrustworthy people could use them to invade civil rights or to threaten, harm, or intimidate others. One area of particular concern is weaponization. We believe that adding weapons to robots that are remotely or autonomously operated, widely available to the public, and capable of navigating to previously inaccessible locations where people live and work, raises new risks of harm and serious ethical issues. Weaponized applications of these newly-capable robots will also harm public trust in the technology in ways that damage the tremendous benefits they will bring to society. For these reasons, we do not support the weaponization of our advanced-mobility general-purpose robots. For those of us who have spoken on this issue in the past, and those engaging for the first time, we now feel renewed urgency in light of the increasing public concern in recent months caused by a small number of people who have visibly publicized their makeshift efforts to weaponize commercially available robots.

We pledge that we will not weaponize our advanced-mobility general-purpose robots or the software we develop that enables advanced robotics and we will not support others to do so. When possible, we will carefully review our customers’ intended applications to avoid potential weaponization. We also pledge to explore the development of technological features that could mitigate or reduce these risks. To be clear, we are not taking issue with existing technologies that nations and their government agencies use to defend themselves and uphold their laws.

We understand that our commitment alone is not enough to fully address these risks, and therefore we call on policymakers to work with us to promote safe use of these robots and to prohibit their misuse. We also call on every organization, developer, researcher, and user in the robotics community to make similar pledges not to build, authorize, support, or enable the attachment of weaponry to such robots. We are convinced that the benefits for humanity of these technologies strongly outweigh the risk of misuse, and we are excited about a bright future in which humans and robots work side by side to tackle some of the world’s challenges.

Signed,

For further information or to join our pledge, please contact us. 

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Supply chain demand remains near all-time highs. To support the flow of goods and increase operational capacity, NFI continues to invest in technology that supports a people-led, technology-enabled approach. The investment also falls in line with NFI’s Applied Innovation focus, which pilots new technologies to demonstrate a real-world application within operations before scaling across its North American network.

“At a time when companies need to evolve to meet consumer expectations, NFI has stepped in as the innovative logistics partner, contributing to our customers’ competitive edge,” said Sid Brown, CEO of NFI. “Our innovation portfolio emphasizes productivity and safety in NFI’s operations. With Stretch, we will enhance the movement of freight through our facilities while providing a safer environment for our employees.”

NFI is one of the oldest and largest privately-held 3PLs in North America, serving customers throughout various industries and operating over 65 million square feet of warehouse space. The company foresees Stretch becoming an invaluable asset in its network of import deconsolidation centers, cross-dock and transload facilities, as well as floor-loaded inbound and outbound distribution centers一all of which have seen an influx of demand since the start of the pandemic.

“We designed Stretch to automate box moving, an operationally and physically challenging task across warehouses,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Demand for goods continues to rise, and robots like Stretch can help NFI alleviate some of the challenges associated with that surging demand. Stretch makes truck unloading a safer and more efficient task, and NFI can pass that efficiency along to its customers.”

Stretch operates for more than a full shift on a single charge or up to 16 hours with a high-capacity battery option. With a powerful vacuum gripper and advanced vision system, the robot handles a variety of package types up to 50 pounds, requires no SKU number pre-programming or box size information, and can autonomously recover any packages that shift or fall during the unloading process.

The Stretch project is being overseen by NFI’s Integrated Design and Solutions (IDS) team of supply chain engineers, which will help scale the program to the greater NFI footprint after the pilot’s conclusion.

For more information, please visit: bosdyn.co/stretch.

About NFI

NFI is a fully-integrated North American supply chain solutions provider headquartered in Camden, New Jersey. Privately held by the Brown family since 1932, the company generates more than $3.8 billion in annual revenue and employs over 16,000 associates. NFI owns and operates more than 65 million square feet of warehouse space alongside a dedicated fleet of 5,100 tractors and 13,200 trailers. By 2023, NFI will operate the first 100% zero-emission drayage fleet, leading the transition to zero-emission goods movement in the United States. NFI’s relentless innovation and unparalleled service deliver logistics solutions that transform the way business gets done. The company’s business lines include dedicated transportation, warehousing and distribution, eCommerce fulfillment, brokerage, transportation management, port drayage, intermodal, global logistics, and industrial real estate. For more information about NFI, visit www.nfiindustries.com or call 1-877-NFI-3777.

About Boston Dynamics

Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest robotics challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity, and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from industrial plants and construction sites to distribution centers and warehouses. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot^®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch^TM, a box-moving robot currently deployed with early adopter logistics customers; and Atlas, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

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Waltham, MA – March 28, 2022 – Boston Dynamics, the global leader in mobile robotics, has announced Stretch, its newest robot designed specifically for warehouses and distribution centers, is now available for commercial purchase. Part of a new generation of mobile robots, Stretch is one of the most advanced robots in the world today. 

First introduced in the spring of 2021, Stretch has been in pilot testing with a select group of customers over the last several months. All units scheduled for 2022 delivery have already sold out thanks to strong demand from those early customers, which include DHL Supply Chain, Gap, H&M and Performance Team – A Maersk Company. Boston Dynamics is now accepting reservations for 2023 and 2024 deliveries.

Stretch is a versatile, mobile robot that unloads floor-loaded trailers and containers for safer and more efficient warehouse operations. The robot works with a wide range of package types and sizes, from standard brown to highly graphical boxes, and can handle cases up to 50 pounds. With advanced mobility and a footprint the size of a pallet, Stretch is built to maneuver in and out of trucks and tight spaces in a warehouse. The robot is an easily scalable, autonomous solution that can be installed and ready to work within existing warehouse infrastructure in just a few days. 

“Labor shortages and supply chain snags continue to create challenges in keeping the flow of goods moving,” said Robert Playter, CEO of Boston Dynamics. “Stretch makes logistics operations more efficient and predictable,  and it improves safety by taking on one of the most physically demanding jobs in the warehouse. Many of our early adopter customers have already committed to deploying the robot at scale, so we are excited Stretch will soon be put to work more broadly, helping retailers and logistics companies handle the continued surging demand for goods.” 

DHL Supply Chain recently announced a $15 million pre-order to further automate warehousing in North America with Stretch. The multi-year agreement marked the first commercial purchase of the robot. Last week, Performance Team – A Maersk Company, also announced it has signed a multi-year agreement with Boston Dynamics to strengthen the company’s warehouse and distribution capabilities.

Stretch’s technology builds upon Boston Dynamics’ decades of advancements in autonomous robots. The robot is equipped with a powerful, custom vacuum gripper and an advanced vision system that detects boxes and the container surroundings, enabling Stretch to autonomously recover any packages that shift or fall during unloading. Stretch does not require any pre-programming of SKU numbers or information on box sizes; the robot makes all unloading decisions in real time, without the need for explicit directions or supervision. The robot is capable of working more than a full shift on a single charge, or up to 16 hours with a high capacity battery option.

Stretch will be on display and running live demos in the Boston Dynamics booth (#B6222) at this week’s MODEX show in Atlanta. For more information, please visit: https://www.bostondynamics.com/products/stretch.

About Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest robotics challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from manufacturing plants and construction sites to distribution centers and warehouses. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped that conducts industrial inspections for enterprise asset management; Stretch, a box-moving robot currently deployed with early adopter logistics customers; and Atlas, the world’s most advanced humanoid robot. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

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WESTERVILLE, OH (January 26, 2022) – DHL Supply Chain, the global and North American contract logistics leader within Deutsche Post DHL Group, today announced a $15 million investment in robotics solutions from Boston Dynamics, the global leader in mobile robotics, to further automate warehousing in North America. The companies have signed a multi-year agreement that begins with equipping DHL facilities with Stretch, Boston Dynamics’ newest robot specifically designed to automate the unloading process in distribution centers.

This agreement is the culmination of strategic collaboration between the two companies over the past few years as Stretch was being developed and tested. Boston Dynamics will deliver a fleet of Stretch robots to multiple DHL warehouses throughout North America over the next three years. The deal with DHL marks the first commercial purchase of Stretch, which was unveiled in 2021.

The investment is part of DHL Supply Chain’s Accelerated Digitalization agenda, a strategy for developing and scaling innovative solutions and new technologies. Stretch will tackle several box-moving tasks in the warehouse, beginning with truck unloading at select DHL facilities. Following the first deployment, the multi-purpose mobile robot will handle additional tasks to support other parts of the warehouse workflow, which will effectively automate warehouse operations.

“At DHL Supply Chain, we are committed to continuous innovation and digital transformation to optimize the end-to-end supply chain. Investing in warehouse automation plays an important role in increasing operational efficiency and improving service for our customers,” said Sally Miller, CIO, DHL Supply Chain North America. “We’re excited to partner with Boston Dynamics to deploy its best-in-class robotics in our warehouses. The Stretch robot addresses complex industry challenges through flexible automation, which we’ll be able to replicate and scale regionally and globally.”

Stretch’s technology builds upon Boston Dynamics’ decades of advancements in robotics to create a flexible, easily integrated solution that can work in any warehouse to increase the flow of goods and improve associate safety by taking over physically demanding tasks. Stretch is equipped with a compact, omni-directional mobile base, custom-designed lightweight arm as well as a smart gripper with advanced sensing and controls that can handle a large variety of box types and sizes. It also includes Boston Dynamics’ computer vision technology, which enables it to identify boxes easily and without any pre-programming. Stretch is capable of working autonomously through complex situations like disordered stacking configurations and recovering fallen boxes.

“Stretch is Boston Dynamics’ newest robot, designed specifically to remedy challenges within the warehouse space,” said Robert Playter, Boston Dynamics’ CEO. “We are thrilled to be working with DHL Supply Chain to deliver a fleet of robots that will further automate warehousing and improve safety for its associates. We believe Stretch can make a measurable impact on DHL’s business operations, and we’re excited to see the robot in action at scale.”

Deployment of the first Stretch units in DHL warehouses will begin this spring, and DHL plans to gradually scale Boston Dynamics’ robots for additional tasks and across multiple facilities in phases over the next few years. 

To learn more, listen to the upcoming episode of DHL’s All Business. No Boundaries.^TM podcast, which features Boston Dynamics and will be released on January 31. Podcast episodes are available here.

For more information on Stretch, visit: bosdyn.co/stretch.

Media Contacts

John Friess
External Communications Manager
DHL Supply Chain, North America
Phone: +1 740 953 9406
E-mail: john.friess@dhl.com
On the Internet: dpdhl.com/press
Follow us at: twitter.com/DeutschePostDHL

Nikolas Noel
Communications Director
Boston Dynamics
Email: nnoel@bostondynamics.com
www.bostondynamics.com

DHL – The logistics company for the world

DHL is the leading global brand in the logistics industry. Our DHL divisions offer an unrivalled portfolio of logistics services ranging from national and international parcel delivery, e-commerce shipping and fulfillment solutions, international express, road, air and ocean transport to industrial supply chain management. With about 400,000 employees in more than 220 countries and territories worldwide, DHL connects people and businesses securely and reliably, enabling global sustainable trade flows. With specialized solutions for growth markets and industries including technology, life sciences and healthcare, engineering, manufacturing & energy, auto-mobility and retail, DHL is decisively positioned as “The logistics company for the world”.

DHL is part of Deutsche Post DHL Group. The Group generated revenues of more than 66 billion euros in 2020. With sustainable business practices and a commitment to society and the environment, the Group makes a positive contribution to the world. Deutsche Post DHL Group aims to achieve zero-emissions logistics by 2050.

Boston Dynamics is the global leader in developing and deploying highly mobile robots capable of tackling the toughest robotics challenges. Our robots are equipped with advanced mobility, dexterity and intelligence, enabling automation in unstructured or hard-to-traverse spaces, from industrial plants and construction sites to distribution centers and warehouses. We have three robots in our portfolio: Spot®, a quadruped which is broadly available for commercial and industrial use; Stretch®, which is currently deployed with early adopter logistics customers; and Atlas, our bipedal research and development platform. For more information on our company and our technologies, please visit www.bostondynamics.com.

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