MOUNTAIN VIEW (dpa-AFX) - Google Inc. (GOOG) has acquired Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that specializes in building dynamic robots and software for human simulation. Boston is the eighth company that Google has acquired in recent months as part of its robotics project.
The acquisition will strengthen the Google's new project as Boston Dynamics has an extraordinary technical team of engineers and scientists. The project, which is in its very early days, is led by Andy Rubin, the man behind Android.
Boston Dynamics creates a variety of robots, including BigDog, a quadruped robot for travel on rough-terrain, PETMAN, an anthropomorphic robot for testing equipment, RISE, a robot that climbs vertical surfaces, SquishBot, a shape-changing chemical robot that moves through tight space, and many others.
Boston Dynamics also develops tools for human simulation. DI-Guy is a human simulation product used for simulation-based training, UAV training, law-enforcement training, mission-planning and many other applications. DI-Guy is used by leading organizations world-wide, including all branches of the US Armed Forces.
Boston Dynamics began as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where National Academy of Engineering member Marc Raibert and his colleagues first developed robots that ran and maneuvered like animals. DARPA, the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, Sony Corporation seek advice and help from Boston Dynamics for creating the most advanced robots.
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