Stretch 3 brings assistive robots into the home

Hello Robot is the inaugural winner of the 2025 RBR50 "Robots for Good" award for its Stretch 3 platform. The Martinez, Calif.-based company has committed to enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities and their care partners.

At the heart of Stretch 3’s story are users like Henry Evans, a non-speaking adult with quadriplegia, and his wife and dedicated care partner, Jane. With support from a Hello Robot roboticist and occupational therapist, they have used Stretch in their home, transforming their daily lives in ways they never thought possible.

Henry, who is mostly dependent on Jane, now found himself able to contribute to household chores. "It felt great to help my wife in a meaningful way,” he said. “It made me feel useful again."

Beyond the Evans’ household, Stretch has been used in a wide variety of assistive applications, including an NIH-funded study exploring how robots can help older adults with early-stage dementia age in place by providing social participation, cognitive assistance, and health/safety management.

Recently, Hello Robot announced a new partnership and investment from the ALS Association to target research into the specific needs of this population.

Hello Robot is firmly committed to an open-source development strategy for its platform. The system’s relatively low cost makes it an affordable test bed for university research. It is enabling robotic students and researchers around the world to push the boundaries of AI control for robotics. The “network effect” of open source helps to accelerate the pace of innovation, the company said.

Research with Stretch today is helping to realize a more inclusive society that uses robots to help people engage with others and their surroundings. This is why, Hello Robot is the clear recipient of the "Robots for Good" award.

Explore the RBR50 Robotics Innovation Awards 2025.