"My generation believed the world would be overrun by robots by the year 2014. We now have the mechanical and electronic capabilities, but robots still lack understanding—seeing and thinking in the way we do. Mastering this will make our lives easier and lead to previously unthinkable technologies,” said James Dyson, founder, Dyson.
Dyson, an engineering firm, popular for its bagless vacuum cleaners, is all set to invest £5 million in robotic lab located at imperial college, London. This new robotic lab will help robots to know the world around them and adapt to it.
James Dyson and Prof Andrew Davison of imperial college are working together on robotics since 2005. The research that will be conducted at the lab will cover the robotics vacuum cleaner and domestic robot.
In 2001, Dyson’s robotic vacuum cleaner’s prototype almost completed its production. However, Prof Andrew Davison pulled it out at the last moment saying that it was way expensive and huge. There are few robotic vacuum cleaners like iRobot's Roomba and LG's Hom-Bot in the market.
This five year investment by Dyson will be supplemented by an additional fund of £3 million from other sources.
"A truly intelligent domestic robot needs to complete complex everyday tasks while adapting to a constantly changing environment. “We will research and develop systems that allow machines to both understand and perceive their surroundings - using vision to achieve it,” said Prof Andrew Davison.
Future of global robotics market is bright and is poised to grow. An investment of £250 million was announced by Dyson in January, which will expand the size of its research center at Wiltshire.
