Specialty apparel company Gap Inc. announced the results of deploying Stretch, Boston Dynamics’ automated mobile manipulation robot, in its warehouses. The company wanted to assess the robot’s ability to move a variety of boxes that contain items like denim jeans and T-shirts.
According to Gap, Stretch allows one to two inbound department employees to process 10,000 cases daily, a task that typically requires 12 to 15 workers. The company also reported reduced injuries, lowered turnover and increased employee morale.
Boston Dynamics Field Applications Engineer Brian Mackenzie explained that an operator can walk Stretch into a container, where the robot operates on its own. He added that the robot uses machine learning and its vision to detect the cases, ceiling and walls and uses a vacuum gripper to pick up boxes and place them on a conveyor.
Stretch can also detect labels on boxes and position them correctly on the conveyor, which allows the scanners downstream to properly receive the box.
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Boston Dynamics Senior Field Applications Engineer Maddie Pero said new users typically learn to drive Stretch in under 10 minutes, understand how to guide the robot into a container and begin picking within one hour and complete certification in two days.
Gap Operations Supervisor Jimmy Hesson emphasized the robot’s impact on the inbound team, who lift boxes that average 30 pounds and throw about 3,000 cartons per day.
“Me and my team were apprehensive about how the robots fit in to what we do,” Hesson said. “I have a very tenured team who has been in inbound for quite a while, and they recognized that Stretch was going to add to their longevity and how long they could stay in the inbound department.”
Gap said it plans to scale the Stretch product, adding to its existing operations in Tennessee, Ohio, New York and California.
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