Date: Dec 14, 2013 Author: John Biggs Source: TechCrunch (
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by John Biggs (@johnbiggs)
Google announced that they've acquired Boston Dynamics, creators of quad- and bi-pedal robots like Big Dog and PETMAN. This is Google's eighth robotics acquisition.
The company did not disclose the details of the sale.
The announcement appeared in the New York Times where Boston Dynamics CEO Marc Raibert said they would honor their DARPA military contracts although Google will not officially be a military contractor.
The company, founded in 1992, has been working on standalone, gas-powered robots for the past decade. The robots are self-righting and very resilient. Robots like Big Dog can throw cinder blocks, handle rocky terrain, and run at 16 mph.
The man behind the acquisition, Andy Rubin, stepped down as head of Googe's Android business in march after turning a little-known mobile OS into a juggernaut. "His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets," wrote Larry Page on his Google+ page. "It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress."
