Andy Rubin Behind Google Robot Moonshot

Google's Andy Rubin is the father of Android, but he is no longer working on the Android operating system. Rubin is now the engineer in charge of a new undertaking at Google that the company is calling a moonshot. Rubin is now in charge of Google's robotics effort.

Google has been buying up robotics firms over the last six months to shore up its future plans for robots. Google isn't saying much about its plans for the robots in the future. Google is spending some big money on its robotics effort indicating that it is a serious project for the search giant.

"Like any moonshot, you have to think of time as a factor," Mr. Rubin said. "We need enough runway and a 10-year vision."

What is known about the Google robotics effort right now is that the robots are aimed at the manufacturing world rather than consumers. Some experts believe that the initial goals of the Google robot plan would be to design robots that could automate portions of an existing supply chain that is mostly manual right now. An example is electronics assembly.

Another realistic use for the technology according to experts would be to automate parts of a supply chain stretching from the factory floor to companies that ship the goods to the consumer's door. The Google robotics push opens a door that may one day see robots stepping out of an autonomous Google car and dropping packages off at your door.

SOURCE: NYT