Dyson has unveiled a series of prototype robots it is developing, and has announced plans to hire hundreds of engineers over the next five years to build robots capable of homework. The pictures are designed to show the good moving skills of the machines, with arms capable of lifting dishes from a drying rack, vacuuming a sofa or lifting a toy.
The company, best known for its range of vacuum cleaners, says it aims to develop an “autonomous device capable of homework and other tasks”, with The Guardian noting that such a device could be released by 2030. It comes more than half a decade after the company released its first robotic device, the Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner, in 2014. Dyson has long emphasized its interest in AI and robotics to support its future. products.
The announcement was made to coincide with the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Philadelphia, and to serve as a recruiting tool with a prominent “Start Your Dyson Career” link placed near the top of Dyson’s press release. The firm says it is in the midst of the “greatest engineering recruitment in its history.” It is currently recruiting 250 robotic engineers with expertise in “computer vision, machine learning, sensors and mechatronics”, and hopes to hire an additional 700 over the next five years. Dyson says it has already added 2,000 new employees to its workforce this year.
In addition to hiring, the company is also building what it hopes will be Britain’s largest robotics research center. The Guardian reports. The center will be based at Hullavington Airfield near the company’s existing design center in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, where it will rebuild an aircraft hanger with 250 robots. The site was previously intended for the development of Dyson’s electric car, before the project was canceled in 2019. Research will also take place in a laboratory in London, as well as at the company’s global headquarters in Singapore.
“This is a‘ big bet ’on future robot technology that will lead research across Dyson, in areas including mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage,” said Jake Dyson, the company’s chief engineer and son of a company. founder James Dyson. In 2020, Dyson announced plans invest £ 2.75 billion (about $ 3.45 billion) in areas including robotics, new engine technology, and machine learning software by 2025. It plans to spend £ 600 million (about $ 750 million) on that investment this year.