Rethink Robotics (USA, later HAHN Group, Germany) Rethink Robotics Sawyer (1)

Rethink Robotics (USA, later HAHN Group, Germany) Rethink Robotics Sawyer (2)

Was $29,000 (2017)Price reported by IEEE Spectrum in 2017.

Discontinued · used/leftover onlyVia SSH / web / bridge7-DOFScreen faceIntera softwareCompany closed

Possibly ≤ 1 weekShipping: Used market. No longer manufactured. Used units appear from labs and resellers, with no manufacturer support after the 2024–2025 shutdowns.

Remote control: Research units expose a ROS interface. A Linux laptop runs intera_interface Python scripts against the robot's ROS master.

Wikipedia (Rethink) ↗Tech specs (archived) ↗intera_sdk ↗

Overview

The single-arm follow-up to Baxter, aimed at machine tending and precise small tasks. Rethink ceased operations in October 2018. The German HAHN Group bought its patents, trademarks and Intera platform and relaunched Sawyer (including a 2019 'BLACK Edition'). That German entity shut down in August 2024, and a further 2024 relaunch also failed in 2025.

Specifications

Category	Robot arms · Industrial & legacy
Released	2015
Availability	Discontinued · used/leftover only
Programmability	Full SDK
Best for	Professionals & labs
Vision sensors	Camera
Actuators	Unknown
Audio	No audio
Compute type	Proprietary / undisclosed
Remote control	Via SSH / web / bridge
DOF	7
Reach	1,260 mm
Payload	4 kg
Repeatability	±0.1 mm
Weight	19 kg (42 lb)
Controller	External controller running Intera, Modbus TCP and TCP/IP
Sensors	Series elastic actuators with Harmonic Drive and optical encoders, high-resolution force sensing at each joint, wide-view head camera and a Cognex wrist camera with built-in light
SDK	Intera SDK (ROS with Python `intera_interface`) on research units, Intera 5 flowchart programming