tech
Is Silicon Valley Ready to Put Robots in People's Homes? Hello Robot Is.
The California startup released the fourth-generation of its home assistance robot, Stretch.
TL;DR
- Hello Robot released the fourth iteration of its home assistance robot, Stretch.
- Unlike competitors focused on humanoid robots, Stretch has a telescoping arm, pinchers, and a wheeled base.
- The company was founded in 2017 by CEO Aaron Edsinger and CTO Charlie Kemp.
- Stretch is designed to work in real homes with people, addressing a lack of useful training data for robots.
- Investor Keith Platt, who is quadriplegic, uses Stretch to regain independence in daily tasks.
- Stretch is controlled via a voice-operated app and allows for direct manipulation of objects.
- The company emphasizes that human control is a desired feature, contributing to safety.
- Hardware challenges, such as weight and balancing, are significant in robotics development.
- Hello Robot's simpler design and focus on safety are compared to Waymo's approach to self-driving cars.
- Stretch 4 costs $30,000 and is designed to be shippable and accessible to researchers.
- Customers include researchers, enterprises testing utility in data centers, and developers of in-home aides for disabilities.