Google offers a company specializing in military robots - Le Figaro

Boston Dynamics, now owned by Google, is funded for several years by the U.S. Army to advance robotics research and develop “pet robots” capable of helping the troops on the field.

eight! Google continues its acquisitions in the field of robotics by offering, for a undisclosed amount, the company Boston Dynamics. Founded in 1992 by an MIT professor, the company is known for its funded by the U.S. Government Agency Defense Advanced Research Program (DARPA) research to develop “pet robots” capable of assisting the troops on the ground .

The most famous of them is “BigDog,” a four-legged robot capable of carrying a hundred pounds of gear and move on rough terrain for traditional military vehicles. Better yet, BigDog can walk on ice, and recover if it fails to fall.

Other

creation of Boston Dynamics, “Sheetah” a “cheetah robot” able to run not less than 46 km / hour. But if Sheetah has so far been tested on a treadmill, her cousin, “WildCat” he can gallop up to 25 km / hour in real conditions, as shown in this awesome video taken in a parking lot.

In July, Boston Dynamics has announced the development of a humanoid robot, Atlas. Again supported by DARPA, the research aims to create robots that can work on dangerous terrain for humans, such as sites that have undergone natural or nuclear disaster.

But what has Google in this company that works hand in hand with the U.S. military? The New York Times speculates that Google, which has already acquired seven companies specializing in robotics in the last six months, would work on robots capable of handling in its factories, to make deliveries, or in a any other field of caring for the elderly.

Silicon Valley giant also said that Boston Robotics will continue to honor its contracts with DARPA, but Google does not become a subcontractor of the army. For its part, Boston Dynamics has said repeatedly that he was simply trying to improve robotic technology, even being funded by military funds. In the past, the company has also worked as a consultant for Sony to help develop the robot dog “pet” Aibo, launched in 1999 on the Japanese market. Andy Rubin, former head of the Android division, and now in charge of robotics, said that the first “Google bots” would not be available for several years.