Rethink Robotics (USA) Rethink Robotics Baxter (1)

Rethink Robotics (USA) Rethink Robotics Baxter (2)

Was $22,000 (2012)Launch price including a year of software updates and warranty, per IEEE Spectrum.

Discontinued · used/leftover onlyVia SSH / web / bridgeDual-armAnimated faceROS research editionHistoric

Possibly ≤ 1 weekShipping: Used market. Discontinued in 2018; used research units occasionally appear from university surplus and resellers, with no manufacturer support.

Remote control: A Linux laptop joins Baxter's ROS master over Ethernet and commands it via the Python baxter_interface library.

Wikipedia ↗IEEE Spectrum (2012) ↗baxter_interface ↗

Overview

Rodney Brooks' two-armed factory worker with a screen face, series elastic actuators and teach-by-demonstration programming, launched at a then-shocking $22,000. Commercial sales underwhelmed and production ended in 2018, but the research edition became a fixture in university labs for human-robot interaction and learning work.

Specifications

Category	Robot arms · Industrial & legacy
Released	2012
Availability	Discontinued · used/leftover only
Programmability	Full SDK
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	Camera, Sonar / ultrasonic
Actuators	Unknown
Audio	No audio
Compute type	x86 PC (Intel / AMD)
Remote control	Via SSH / web / bridge
DOF	14 (7 per arm)
Reach	1,210 mm
Payload	2.2 kg (5 lb) incl. end effector
Repeatability	Not published
Weight	75 kg (165 lb) without pedestal; 139 kg (306 lb) with
Controller	Internal PC: Intel Core i7-3770, 4 GB RAM, 128 GB SSD, running ROS
Sensors	Head, left and right wrist cameras; IR range sensors in the hands; sonar in the head; series elastic actuators for force sensing
SDK	Baxter Research Robot SDK: ROS with Python `baxter_interface`