Baxter

Baxter is a versatile manufacturing robot. Its cameras and force-sensing actuators let it adapt to changes in the environment, and a user can program a new task simply by moving its arms around.

Creator

Rethink Robotics

(Rethink Robotics shut down in 2018; its patents and trademarks were acquired by Germany's Hahn Group.)

Year

2012

Country

United States 🇺🇸

Categories

Industrial

Features

A large red and black robot with two industrial arms with grippers, and a display for a face is placed at a tabletop where it moves its arm and picks up a red object on the table. — See Baxter pick up a plastic widget. Photos: David Yellen

More interactives

Did you know?

Baxter doesn't speak, but it nods its LCD head to indicate that it has understood a new command.

Baxer, a human sized red robot holds up two "bunny fingers" behind Rodney Brooks, a smiling man standing next to it. — Baxter is a real joker. Photo: David Yellen

A red robot hand, two gripper fingers, and a camera. — Close-up of Baxter's forearm camera. Photo: David Yellen

Product manager Mike Bugda demonstrates how Baxter works. Video: IEEE Spectrum

Audio

In an interview with IEEE Spectrum, Rodney Brooks describes how he tests the safety of his robot Baxter by putting his own body on the line.

Photo: David Yellen

Rodney Brooks explains the main differences between a traditional industrial robot and his robot Baxter.

Photo: David Yellen

History

Rodney Brooks, a cofounder of iRobot and a former director of MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, founded Rethink Robotics, then called Heartland Robotics, in 2008. His goal was to develop an affordable industrial robot that could automate repetitive tasks in small and medium-size manufacturers, working alongside humans and helping them with tasks rather than taking their jobs. The company worked in total secrecy until late 2012, when it changed its name to Rethink Robotics and unveiled its first robot, called Baxter. It introduced a second robot, Sawyer, in 2015. Rethink raised US $62 million in venture funding. The company shut down in 2018.

Close up of the robots arm and gripper hand. — The arms are powered by series elastic actuators. Photo: David Yellen

A man holds the arm of Baxter, an industrial looking robot. — Baxter can coexist peacefully with humans. Photo: David Yellen

Specs

Overview: Equipped with active and passive safety systems and a user-friendly control interface. Able to control movements based on vision and force sensing.
Status: Discontinued
Year: 2012
Website: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baxter_(robot)
Width: 260 cm
Height: 94 cm (waist to head)
Length: 37 cm
Weight: 75 kg (not including pedestal)
Sensors: Five cameras (one in the head, two in the chest, and one in each forearm). Force sensing based on series elastic actuators. Head with sonar array for detecting humans moving close by.
Actuators: Series elastic actuators with brushless DC motors, metal and plastic gearboxes, and custom spring element.
Degrees of Freedom (DoF): 16 (Arm: 7 DoF x 2; Head: 2 DoF)
Materials: Cast aluminum, thermoplastics, powdered metal parts.
Compute: Intel-based main computer inside torso. ARM-based motor controller boards inside arms.
Software: Linux OS and custom control software with ROS (Robot Operating System) integration.
Power: Standard 110-V power supply
Cost: $22,000