The Hyundai Motor Group purchased a controlling share in Boston Dynamics for US$800 million again in 2020, impressed by the potential of its array of world-leading humanoid, quadrupedal and different robots. Now it is investing half that once more to develop AI.
Hyundai is founding a brand new Boston Dynamics AI Institute, headquartered within the Kendall Square analysis precinct in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The new facility shall be a research-first group devoted to “fixing a very powerful and tough challenges going through the creation of superior robots,” taking an academia-meets-the-commercial-lab strategy.
The Institute’s core analysis areas shall be athletic AI, natural {hardware} design … and sure, cognitive AI. There may even be analysis into the less-technical – however crucial – areas of ethics and coverage, as they intersect with this highly-charged house.
“Our mission is to create future generations of advanced robots and intelligent machines that are smarter, more agile, perceptive and safer than anything that exists today,” mentioned Marc Raibert, who based Boston Dynamics again in 1992 as an MIT spinoff, and who will function government director of the brand new Institute. “The unique structure of the Institute – top talent focused on fundamental solutions with sustained funding and excellent technical support – will help us create robots that are easier to use, more productive, able to perform a wider variety of tasks, and that are safer working with people.”
Boston Dynamics
While they could look fairly completely different, self-driving vehicles can very a lot be considered as autonomous robots as effectively, and Hyundai can be investing in a separate Global Software Center, targeted on autonomous driving and mobility platforms. There might be areas the place the 2 new entities might intersect.
Meanwhile, Boston Dynamics continues to work on industrial purposes for its versatile Spot robotic canine, in addition to its newer Stretch robotic, a mesmerizing cell platform developed round field dealing with and warehouse work.
Boston Dynamics
The actual world is a considerably harsher stage than a YouTube video, and we do not get the impression that Boston Dynamic’s merchandise are setting the world alight the way in which their movies have. But Hyundai has doubled down on its dedication, and AI will definitely be a vital discipline within the general-purpose robotics discipline, so there’s each probability this new Institute might hold Boston Dynamics out in entrance of the sphere for years, or many years, to come back.
Source: Boston Dynamics AI Institute