Dyson has shown a range of prototype robots it is developing, and has announced plans to hire hundreds of engineers over the next five years to build robots suitable for domestic tasks. The graphics are designed to show the fine motor skills of the machines, with arms that can lift dishes from a drying rack, vacuum a sofa or lift a children’s toy.
The company, best known for its range of vacuum cleaners, says it aims to “develop a self-contained device capable of performing household and other tasks”, with the guard noticing that such a device could be on the market by 2030. It comes more than half a decade after the company released its first robotic device, the Dyson 360 Eye robotic vacuum cleaner, in 2014. Dyson has long emphasized its interest in AI and robotics to support its future products.
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The announcement was made to coincide with the International Conference on Robotics and Automation in Philadelphia, and serves as a recruiting tool with a prominent “Start Your Dyson Career” link at the top of Dyson’s press release. The company says it is in the midst of the “biggest engineering recruitment campaign in its history.” It is currently recruiting 250 robotics engineers with expertise in ‘computer vision, machine learning, sensors and mechatronics’ and hopes to hire another 700 over the next five years. Dyson says it has already added 2,000 new employees to its workforce this year.
As well as hiring, the company is also building what it hopes will become the UK’s largest robotics research center. the guard reports† The center will be located at Hullavington Airfield near the company’s existing design center in Malmesbury, Wiltshire, where it is converting an aircraft hanger where 250 roboticists will work. The site was previously earmarked for Dyson’s electric car development, before the project was canceled in 2019. Research will also take place at a lab in London, as well as at the company’s global headquarters in Singapore.
“This is a ‘big bet’ on future robotic technology that will drive research across Dyson, in areas such as mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage,” said Jake Dyson, the company’s chief engineer and the company’s son. . founder James Dyson. in 2020, Dyson has announced plans investing £2.75 billion (about $3.45 billion) by 2025 in robotics, new motor technology and machine learning software, among others. It plans to spend £600 million (about $750 million) of that investment this year.