Is Google building an army of robots? Well, Google has just completed acquisition of its eighth robotics company in the last six months.
Google has
confirmed completing acquisition of Boston Dynamics, a company that is
known for developing super-fast robots for the US Army. The latest
acquisition is considered to be Google's major push into the field of
robotics. Prior to Boston Dynamics, Google has taken over seven robotics
firms in the last six months.
According to reports, Google's Any Rubin
is leading the company's secretive robotics division. So far, the
price and size of the project haven't been revealed. Google's other
robotics companies include Autofuss and Bot & Dolly, Schaft,
Industrial Perception, Meka, Redwood Robotics, and Holomni.
In a statement posted on the Google
Plus, Chief Executive Larry Page recently said: “I am excited about Andy
Rubin's next project. His last big bet, Android, started off as a
crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions
of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to
see the progress."
Boston Dynamics was founded in 1992 by
Marc Raibert, an former professor at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. The company hasn't launched robots commercially, but works
with US Army, Navy, Marine Corps and the Defense Department's Advanced
Research Projects Agency.
Boston Dynamics has developed quite a
few robots such as LS3, Atlas, Petman, Cheetah and BigDog. Videos of its
walking robots have created a lot of excitement on the web. The BigDog
robot is known for its impressive agility. It can climb hills, travels
through snow, skitters precariously on ice. WildCat, a four-legged
robot, shows off running a car park at high speed.
Google's new acquisition comes at a time
when other Internet companies such as Amazon have also been exploring
the field of robotics. Amazon recently created a lot of buzz with its
plans to deliver packages via drones within a mere 30 minutes.
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