At the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Philadelphia today (Wednesday), Dyson unveiled its activities in the field of home robots.
Dyson presented her future ambitions in the field of robotics and noted that she is accelerating the development of an autonomous device capable of performing a number of home tasks. The company showed a video, showing robotic arms while grabbing various items, an indication that the company is developing home robots in other areas beyond floor cleaning.
The secret development work is being carried out at a former military airport converted into a development lab called Holbington, located in Wiltshire, England, and run by Dyson’s chief engineer, Jake Dyson. In the last six months, parts of the airport have undergone a massive renovation so that they can accommodate 250 robotics scientists who will call it home. It is part of Dyson’s € 2.75 billion investment plan, which aims to continue the development of new technologies, products and facilities. 600 million euros will be invested this year in the robotics project.
Dyson is currently in a massive recruitment process, with 2,000 people already joining the company this year and half of them being engineers, programmers and scientists. When the company recruits 250 robotics engineers from various disciplines this year and plans to recruit another 700 in the next five years.
Jack Dyson, Dyson’s chief engineer, notes that Dyson hired its first robotics experts two decades ago and already this year we are interested in 250 more experts joining us. “This is a massive investment in robotic technology that will lead to in-depth research in all of Dyson’s departments, including mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage. We need the best in the world to join our ranks,” he said.