Google Robots to Deliver Packages to Your Door?

By Trey Thoelcke Published Dec 4, 8:00AM EST

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

If you are going to fill the world with the next generation of robots, as the New York Times suggests Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) is preparing to do, who better to lead the effort than the man who made Google’s Android software the world’s dominant force in smartphones?

Google is keeping a lid on its specific plans, but engineer Andy Rubin is leading the effort, and the company has quietly acquired several technology companies involved in robotics and artificial intelligence. The most likely target of these efforts is and logistics and manufacturing, such as electronics assembly, which is still largely done by hand.

If Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) can deliver packages to your door by drone, as founder Jeff Bezos recently suggested, why not Google driverless cars and Google robots to do the same? Google has stuck a toe in the water with package delivery services in a few urban areas such as San Francisco. Google Shopping already makes home deliveries for companies like Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT), Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) and American Eagle Outfitters (NYSE: AEO).

Delivery to the doorstep may be automated someday, but for now it remains dependent on humans. “[Y]ou have to think of time as a factor,” Rubin said. “We need enough runway and a 10-year vision.”

Among Google’s recent acquisitions are:

Schaft, a Japanese company that endeavors to develop a humanoid robot
Industrial Perception, a U.S. start-up that has developed computer vision systems and robot arms for loading and unloading trucks
Meka and Redwood Robotics, San Francisco-based makers of humanoid robots and robot arms
Bot & Dolly, a maker of the robotic camera systems recently used to create special effects in the movie “Gravity”
Autofuss, which focuses on advertising and design
Holomni, a small design firm that makes high-tech wheels

The Google robotics group initially will be based in Palo Alto, with an office in Japan. Rubin already has begun hiring roboticists and has brought in other Google programmers to assist in the project. While the company may be experimenting with things like driverless cars and the wearable devices, it appears ready to make a move with robots.

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.