Image via Schaft
On Sunday, Amazon announced its plan for a same-day delivery service, where drones will make speedy deliveries to people’s doors when they order an item.
Google has its own special delivery system in the works. In the past year, Google has completely taken over various robotic companies, bringing in their own hand-picked staff to develop line of robots. Similarly to Amazon, Google would carry goods to its customers via robots.
Here's a list of the companies that Google acquired for its robotic initiative:
Autofuss – a robotics company that creates advertisements. The company has worked on campaigns for Google’s Nexus-brand products
Bot & Dolly – Specialized in film-making and precise-motion robotics. This company is a sister company to Autofuss, and its special effects were used in the movie Gravity.
Holomni – Located in Mountain View, CA, it makes caster wheel models, enabling a vehicle’s motion to be accelerated in any direction.
Industrial Perception hones its skills to making 3D vision-guided robotic technologies that automate the loading and unloading of trucks.
Meka Robotics – Their robots appear friendly and safe to humans, comparable to robots built a team at MIT. This robot has large eye sensors, arms, and a torso that appears life-like.
Redwood Robotics – Based in San Francisco, this company generates robotic arms that target the fields of manufacturing, distribuition, and healthcare.
Schafy – The knockoff version of the University of Tokyo, this company centers their research on the creation and operation of humanoid robots. 
Image via Meka
It is speculated that the project will be headed by Andy Rubin, who previously managed the development of Android’s operating system. Google’s idea has been a “10-year vision.”
It was reported by the New York Times that the finished product will not be sold to consumers, suggesting that Google robots will be paired with the self-driving car research. This is all occurring in an effort to start the automation process that will not involve humans when packages are delivered to people’s doorsteps.
Google has already begun a grocery delivery service called the Google Shopping Express. It is currently available in San Francisco and San Jose for same-day service.
Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar , director of the Robotics Lab at the University of Edinburgh, explained how crucial these developing forms of technology are to our society. “Movement and sensing systems for robotics technology have made great strides. Now, with mainstream companies like Google taking up the challenge, other elements such as robust software integration, standardization, and modular designs will pick up pace.”
In an interview with the New York Times, Rubin stated that they’re “building hardware, software, systems, so one team will be able to understand the whole stack” in regards to the robots they’re creating.
Google will eventually expand its robotic project based in Palo Alto, CA, to Japan, a robotically adept country.
Story via BBC
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