Hello Robot has released Stretch 4, an open-source mobile manipulation platform designed for researchers, developers and application engineers working on physical AI and general-purpose robotics applications. The robot is available for $29,950 and is intended for use in environments where robots operate near people, including homes and workplaces. Hello Robot said the platform was developed with input from users of earlier Stretch systems, including people with severe mobility impairments who have used the robot for tasks such as retrieving drinks, closing blinds and feeding themselves through a mobile phone app.
Stretch 4 features a telescoping arm, an omnidirectional mobile base and a sensor array designed to support autonomous operation near people. Its sensing system includes two hemispherical 3D LiDAR sensors, three high-resolution cameras and six laser line sensors positioned around the base to detect small floor hazards such as cords, rugs and drop-offs.
Aaron Edsinger, Hello Robot’s co-founder and chief executive, said the company designed Stretch 4 to operate near people rather than focus on demonstrations removed from everyday use. “With Stretch 4, Hello Robot is delivering a robot designed specifically to operate safely shoulder-to-shoulder with people,” Edsinger said.
The robot’s mobile base is designed to move in any direction and uses 20 cm wheels to travel over indoor surfaces including carpets, rugs and thresholds. The sensing head is calibrated and fixed relative to the arm and base, which the company said is intended to simplify autonomy development. A central high-resolution RGB camera observes the gripper’s workspace, while additional fisheye cameras and 3D LiDAR sensors monitor the surrounding environment.
Stretch 4’s arm, lift and base operate at twice the speed of Stretch 3, and its total reach has been increased by 10%, according to the company. The robot includes eight redundant degrees of freedom plus a gripper, along with an ambidextrous wrist containing an integrated depth camera that can be configured for left- or right-handed operation. A quick-release mechanism allows users to change between a compliant gripper, a parallel jaw gripper and a tablet interface.
The platform also includes an NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX for running AI models on the robot. Hello Robot said the updated power system provides up to eight hours of runtime, while a docking station supports autonomous self-charging for longer deployments.
Charlie Kemp, Hello Robot’s co-founder and chief technology officer, said the company’s work with users in home settings influenced the new system’s design. “People are not an afterthought; they are the primary reason for Stretch 4’s design,” Kemp said.
Hello Robot launched the first Stretch robot in 2020. The company said more than 1,000 users in 23 countries have used the platform since then.
Henry Evans, co-founder of Robots for Humanity, described Stretch 4 as a tool for physical interaction with his environment. “Stretch 4 gives me greater confidence, deeper independence, and a life with more possibility,” Evans said.
Researchers are also using Stretch in academic settings. Wendy Rogers, Khan Professor of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, said her team is studying how the robot could support older adults with different abilities and limitations in home environments.
