Back in 2013, Google went big on robotics. Under the leadership of Android father Andy Rubin; the company went on to acquire marquee companies like Boston Dynamics.
The results, it seems, are modest by design. The company has moved away from the flashiness that defined the space under Rubin. No humanoids, no Big Dogs. The relatively simple hardware is tasked with less exciting duties: manufacturing, warehouse logistics and the like. From the sound of it, the company is looking to solve more immediate issues, with a look toward the three D’s (dull, dirty, dangerous) that automation experts always talk about.
In some way, this move makes more sense coming from Google. The company will now build out its robotics platform from its Brain And Machine Learning programs at DeepMind. Although, a much more modest approach from the moonshot Google X, more could be achieved with this new approach.