Google is reportedly selling Boston Dynamics, its robotic arm, but it does not mean the company is totally giving up on robots.
The search giant spent a massive amount in 2014 for its robotic department. It bought several companies who possessed different technologies that can help robots walk, see and hold objects.
At that time, it appeared that the Mountain View, California-based company was completely engrossed on building advanced new robots that have the ability to transform manufacturing facilities and even homes.
However, Bloomberg reported last week that the search giant is planning to sell Boston Dynamics, the most impressive of all the companies it has acquired. BD was able to build very striking four-legged robots but unfortunately, they are not marketable at the moment.
Even then, Google has not completely given up on its robots, but has chosen to have a more realistic approach about what these robots can achieve.
According to Boston Globe, two executives of Alphabet, Inc., Google's parent company, conducted an assessment of the different firms under its corporate umbrella. In this review as reported by BG, the reported conclusion of these executives is that Boston Dynamics "isn't likely to produce a marketable product in the next few years.''
They are therefore looking to sell the company to interested buyers.
When Google acquired the robotics firm in 2013, it went on to hire around 300 robotic engineers. They were all under Andy Rubin, the former head of the company's Android division.
But Rubin resigned in October 2014, and since then, the leadership of the robotics division went into several changes and subsequent failures of communication with its parent company.
"When you're making a product, you have to pick what it's going to do and a price point, and the target customer," said Helen Greiner, iRobot cofounder and a successful manufacturer of household robots such as the Roomba. She is also currently the CEO of CyPhyWorks, a commercial drone builder.
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