REASSESSED 2026.09.14

Labrador Systems

Labrador Systems Retriever

Name: Labrador Systems Retriever
Brand: Labrador Systems

A self-driving shelf that fetches a prepared tray from the counter and brings it to the chair. Care organizations have received the Pro version; the consumer model shown at CES 2022 still has no release date.

PriceNo list priceRetail price not tracked

Autonomy Ladder

Why Level III.

One five-rung scale, every category, from acting only on command to working unsupervised anywhere.

VGeneralized AutonomyAny task, any setting. No consumer robot has reached it.
IVEnvironmental AutonomyCopes with everyday clutter and frees itself, shown by independent testing.
To reach Level IVIndependent testing shows it avoids ordinary obstacles before contact, copes without the space being cleared, and frees itself when stuck.
IIIConditional AutonomyThis robot

Labrador Systems Retriever finishes whole jobs in a space it already knows, and still needs a person at the edges.

Navigation and control

3D visual SLAM with depth sensors, bumpers on all sides and cliff sensors
Why this level
- Labrador and The Robot Report describe on-device 3D visual SLAM that maps the home at setup, then scheduled or on-demand deliveries between rooms with automatic docking; neither describes a remote operator.
- End-to-end delivery on one mapped floor supports Level III.
- Tray retrieval depends on pallets installed beforehand, which keeps it below Level IV.
10 sources reviewed
IIAssisted AutonomyRuns preset routines; stalls at anything new.
IManual AutomationOne action on command; no independent operation.

How we assign a level →

Human Readiness

Not consumer-ready.

One question: what does buying this robot today walk you into? The state is computed from the record, and recomputed daily.

Not consumer-readyThis robot

Labrador Systems Retriever ships to commercial and research buyers, not to households.

The readiness scale measures household purchase timing, so no tier applies. A consumer version reaching general availability would start the clock.

On the record

10 sources reviewed

The scale, for reference

Ready NowAssessed, with a clean record on file. A successor may be shipping; the page says so when it is.
New to MarketOn sale under 90 days; the ownership record is still forming.
WaitA successor is announced and has not shipped; re-read the decision when it arrives.
Known IssuesDocumented problems stand on the record; read the case before buying.

How we assess readiness →

Pre-Consumer Assessment

How this projection was reached

71of 100

PromisingAt or above 61% of the 85 robots we assess before release

SpeculativeConceptPlausiblePromisingReady

The hatched tail is unreachable by construction. A projection does not publish as a full mark, because the evidence that settles it does not exist yet: whether the thing ships and works in ordinary use. Those 10 points are what shipping has to earn.

The reading

Plausible: a deliberately simple mechanism already placed with care providers, set against a consumer launch that slipped from the second half of 2023 to no date. Announced Jan 2022 at CES. Pending shipping evidence: a consumer release date and an independent reliability record.

Still open

Whether the consumer Retriever and Caddie will ship, and on what date
Whether the 2022 reservation terms of $1,499 plus $149 a month still apply
How many Retriever Pro units care providers operate today, and for how long
Drivetrain, lift and battery durability across multiple years of daily use
What camera imagery, map data or voice data leaves the home
Parts, repair and software support commitments after the 36-month term

Three signals the number rests onweighted, then capped71What can be judged before anyone owns one.

Track Record35% of the assessment48

What this asks

Has this maker shipped what it demoed before, on schedule, with the promised capability?

Engineering35% of the assessment85

What this asks

Are the demonstrated capabilities achievable in shipping form, or do they need breakthroughs not in evidence?

Demo Match30% of the assessment82

What this asks

What has been shown to work, against what is claimed in marketing.

Published beside the numbernever averaged inWhat the maker has disclosed, not what has been judged.

Readinessnot in the number35

What this asks

Ship-date specificity, pricing transparency, distribution and regulatory status. Published beside the number; never averaged in.

Disclosurenot in the number45

What this asks

How much of the product is disclosed. Higher means fewer fundamental unknowns remain. Published beside the number; never averaged in.

middle half of the pre-release setits medianthis robot

Not a Robovations Scorethe two never convert into each other

This is a projection from pre-shipping signals, not a measurement. When the robot ships, the assessment is archived, a first Robovations Score is computed from the field record, and the change is logged on the tracker rather than appearing as a new number.

Read the pre-release method →

FIT CHECK

Will the Labrador Systems Retriever fit your application?

Describe your use case using the controls. Each choice reads the spec sheet for you, flagging where the Labrador Systems Retriever is built for your space and where it isn’t.

Home Layout

What You Carry

How Items Get Loaded

How You Get One

A classification of fit for the conditions you set, not a recommendation. Verdicts describe engineering design intent, not test results.

SPECIFICATION

The full spec sheet.

Manufacturer-published figures, measured against every specialty robot we track.

Dimensional drawing

Key specificationsManufacturer-published

Footprint: 18 × 23 in
Wi-Fi: Supported
Voice: Alexa
Reach: Deck height adjusts from 25 to 38 in

Where it lands · ranked across 43 specialty robotsThis robotMedianTypical range

Charge time240min

30 min360 min

Near median

Position shows where the figure sits across the tracked category, not a quality judgment.

Official referencesProduct page

RECORD

How the assessment has moved.

Every announcement, release and reassessment behind the current classification.

Coming soon

Just launched

Active updates

Settled

Discontinued

Sep 2026 · AssessmentPre-Release Assessment revised 58 → 71
Sep 2026 · AssessmentPre-Release Assessment recorded at 58 of 100
Jan 2022 · AnnouncementLabrador Systems launches Retriever home robot at CES 2022 with early-adopter reservations

Common questions

What people actually ask.

6 answered

OperationCan an individual buy a Labrador Retriever in 2026?

Not through any purchase path Labrador currently documents. Its availability page limits the Retriever Pro to care organizations and gives no release date for the consumer Retriever or Caddie.

OperationHow does the Retriever fetch a tray without an arm?

Trays rest on pallets attached to a counter or table. The robot drives to a pallet and draws the tray onto its deck, which IEEE Spectrum called a minor environmental modification in place of manipulation.

OwnershipWhat did Labrador's Retriever reservation cost?

The reservation page lists $1,499 upfront plus $149 a month for 36 months, with a $250 refundable deposit. The Caddie was $99 a month. The same page still estimates delivery in the second half of 2023.

OperationWill the Retriever reach a second floor?

No stair-climbing is published, and The Robot Report describes cliff sensors that detect stairs.

OperationHow narrow a hallway can the Retriever pass through?

Labrador lists 28 inches as the narrowest space it navigates. The footprint is 18 by 23 inches.

OperationWhat separates the Retriever from the Labrador Caddie?

The Caddie stays at a fixed 30-inch height and cannot retrieve trays. The Retriever adjusts from 25 to 38 inches and works with the pallet system, per The Robot Report.

Cite / Embed

Reference the Labrador Systems Retriever classification.

Embed the Autonomy Ladder™ mark or copy the citation. The mark is served from this record, so a reassessment updates it on your page automatically.

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124161

268112

Clear space 3222 on all sides

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Citation

Robovations. "Labrador Systems Retriever: Autonomy Level III (Conditional Autonomy)." Autonomy Ladder™, assessed September 2026. https://robovations.com/robots/labrador-systems-retriever/

Link it. The mark must point at this record. An unlinked mark is not authorised.
Hot-link it. Never download, self-host, or re-upload the image. A saved copy stops updating, and a mark that has stopped updating is a claim we no longer stand behind.
A classification, not an endorsement. It may not appear beside language implying Robovations recommends, rates, or approves the product.

Where to next

Three ways to keep going.

For evaluators

Compare with a peer.

See the Labrador Systems Retriever and Whisker Litter-Robot EVO side by side: autonomy level, Robovations Score, readiness, and price. Classification, not a verdict.

See the full comparison

Or compare with Whisker Litter-Robot 5 Pro, Piaggio gitaplus, Deep Robotics X30.

For browsers

See every Level III.

Every robot we’ve classified at conditional autonomy. Sorted by readiness, score, and price. Filter by category, manufacturer, or release date.

Browse the database

Updated weekly with new entries and reclassifications.

Labrador Systems Retriever

Will the Labrador Systems Retriever fit your application?

The full spec sheet.

How the assessment has moved.

What people actually ask.

Other specialty robots we have classified.

Whisker Litter-Robot EVO

Whisker Litter-Robot 5 Pro

Piaggio gitaplus

Deep Robotics X30

Reference the Labrador Systems Retriever classification.

Three ways to keep going.

Get the next reassessment.

Compare with a peer.

See every Level III.