Formerly | Heartland Robotics, Inc. [1] |
---|---|
Industry | Robotics |
Founded | 2008 |
Founders | Rodney Brooks, Ann Whittaker |
Headquarters | Boston , United States of America |
Products | Reacher, Ryder, Riser |
Owner | United Robotics Group GmbH |
Number of employees | 10 (2024) [2] |
Website | rethinkrobotics |
Rethink Robotics (formerly Heartland Robotics, Inc. [1] ) is a robotics company co-founded by Rodney Brooks and Ann Whittaker in 2008. [3] In 2018 the assets of Rethink Robotics were bought by the German automation specialist HAHN Group. [4] In 2021 Rethink Robotics joined the United Robotics Group GmbH.
Rethink Robotics has won awards and has been an Edison Awards finalist. [5]
Rethink Robotics was founded in 2008 [3] as a startup aiming to create low-cost robots. [6] In 2012, they released the robot Baxter. [7] In 2015, they released a smaller and more flexible counterpart to Baxter, Sawyer, that was designed to perform smaller, more detailed tasks. [7] [8]
In 2016, they released their collaborative robots (cobots) worldwide. These robots were designed to be easy to set up and work alongside, rather than replace, humans in factory environments. [9]
In October 2018, Rethink Robotics ceased operations and sold off its assets. [10] [11] Other companies picked up support for the robots. [12]
In October 2019, one year after the acquisition of assets through the German HAHN Group, Rethink Robotics launched the new Sawyer BLACK Edition. [16] The headquarters of Rethink Robotics moved from Rheinböllen to Bochum in mid 2020, and signed a partnership with Siemens. [17]
In August 2024 Rethink Robotics GmbH was shut down due to operational reasons.
In September 2024 Rethink Robotics, Inc. reappears with new products. After a long hiatus, the company celebrated its rebirth at the IMTS The International Manufacturing Technology Show in 2024 with a new product portfolio including a cobot and AMR line.
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Baxter is an industrial robot first built on 22 September 2011 by Rethink Robotics, a start-up company founded by Rodney Brooks. The robot is a two-armed collaborative robot with an animated face.
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Rethink Robotics is gone — or is it? News from Germany and China should provide relief for owners of Baxter and Sawyer cobots worried about continuing support.