Intern at Boston Dynamics
ProjectFrom June - September 2023, I worked as a software robotics intern for Stretch, Boston Dynamics' warehouse robot. Stretch is a large mobile manipulator currently used for unloading boxes from trucks -- a strenuous and repetitive task for workers. I was a part of the autonomous capabilities team and created new behaviors for Stretch that focused on improved operator driving of the robot. My additions to the code base have been included in the latest software release of Stretch.
Stretch in a truck unload environnment
In June, I had the opportunity to visit customer sites at NFI and Maersk in Savannah, Georgia. There, I was able to get feedback from field operators about pain points when using the robot. Having this perspective was very valuable throughout the rest of my summer!
I gained a lot of experience this summer about working with a large team as well as programming with a massive, constantly changing code base.