A ROBOT
Without venture capital funding, Hello robots in real homes,” says Maya Cakmak,
THAT KEEPS
IT SIMPLE
Hello Robot wants
to reinvent how
autonomous machines
perform tasks at home
Ten years ago, a now-defunct
Silicon Valley startup caused a
sensation when it introduced
the Personal Robot 2, or PR2. Research-
ers, in particular, loved the PR2 because
it was versatile and easier to program
than other robots. It allowed them to
focus on their research rather than
building a new system from scratch.
The PR2 helped advance robotic sens-
ing, navigation, and manipulation, but
it wasn’t perfect. It was big, heavy, and
expensive: Each cost US $400,000.
Now, another robotics startup is gener-
ating excitement with a newly unveiled
system. Hello Robot came out of stealth
mode this past July to announce Stretch.
Tall, slender, and equipped with a tele-
scoping arm, Stretch features an unusual
design that promises to be simultane-
ously lightweight, capable, and afford-
able. In its launch video, Stretch cleans a
countertop, uses a vacuum, and removes
laundry from a dryer. The demonstra-
tion required a human operator to con-
trol Stretch, but Hello Robot says its
autonomous capabilities will improve.
Another impressive feature is the price
tag: The robot is selling for $17,950.
With offices in the San Francisco
Bay Area and Atlanta, Hello Robot was
founded by former Google robotics direc-
tor Aaron Edsinger and Georgia Tech pro-
fessor Charlie Kemp. Both once worked
in the MIT lab of noted roboticist ­Rodney
Brooks, and they combine decades of
experience in industry and academia.
HELLO ROBOT
REACHING OUT: This mobile manipulator’s
telescoping arm gives it a long reach—without it
reaching too deep into your pocket.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Politecnico di Milano. Downloaded on November 12,2020 at 13:22:22 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
Robot will initially offer Stretch as a a robotics professor at the University of
research platform, hoping that future Washington, in Seattle. Robots like the
versions can be deployed commercially PR2 are so large that moving them any-
in homes and offices. where requires a truck and a lift. They’re
“The impact we want to have is through too big for use in many homes. “I felt
robots that are helpful to people in soci- immediately that Stretch is very differ-
ety,” says Edsinger, the company’s CEO. ent, and it makes a lot of sense,” she says.
“We think primarily in the home context, “It’s safe and lightweight, and you can
but it could be in health care, or in other probably put it in the back seat of a car.”
places. But we really want to have our And then there’s the price tag. Cakmak
robots be impactful, and useful.” says her lab acquired a refurbished PR2
Like the PR2, Stretch is a type of robot for $180,000. “For that, with Stretch, I
known as a mobile manipulator. While could have 10!”
there are others on the market, like As with any robot intended to be useful
PAL Robotics’ TIAGo and Fetch Robot- outside of a structured environment like
ics’ Fetch, they are heavy and expen- a research lab, hardware is only part of
sive. Hello Robot set out to reinvent the the story. In order for Stretch to be able
category by building a robot that has to operate without the supervision of
fewer sensors and lacks the strength of a skilled roboticist, it has to be easy to
its competitors but beats them in size control, autonomous, or ideally, both.
and cost. One of the key innovations For Kemp, Hello Robot’s chief technical
is Stretch’s stretchable arm. Made out officer, Stretch is an attempt to get every-
of lightweight carbon fiber, it consists thing he’s been teaching his robots at
of five telescoping links that are driven Georgia Tech’s Healthcare Robotics Lab
by a single motor—a remarkably ele- out into the world where it can actually
gant design compared with traditional be helpful to people.
manipulators, which rely on powerful “I have a personal bias, but we’d really
motors to support their own weight. This like this technology to benefit older
configuration gives Stretch a reach of adults and caregivers,” Kemp says.
over half a meter and the ability to lift up —Eva n Ack er m a n & Er ico Guizzo
to 1.5 kilograms. The robot itself weighs
only 23 kg, or one-tenth of a PR2. An extended version of this article appears
For roboticists, size is a significant in our Automaton blog.
issue. “When I think about my long-term
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