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#TECH: Dyson shares glimpses of its robot prototypes doing chores at ICRA

PENNSYLVANIA: Dyson gave its biggest clue yet to the future of household robots at the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) here, as it seeks to woo the brightest in the field of robotics to join its rapidly growing team.

At the conference, the multinational technology company provides further definition to its ambitions in advanced robotics, and signals it is accelerating development of an autonomous device capable of household chores and other tasks.

A film, which has also been released on social media, catches the latest developments of Dyson-designed robotic hands grasping objects, indicating that the tech company is moving beyond robotic floor-based vacuums.

Dyson is half-way through the largest engineering recruitment drive in its history. Two thousand people have joined the tech company this year, of which half are engineers, scientists, and coders as the company supercharging its robotics ambitions by recruiting 250 robotics engineers across disciplines including computer vision, machine learning, sensors and mechatronics, and expects to hire 700 more in the robotics field over the next five years.

The secret R&D work carried out at the Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, England is being led by Dyson's chief engineer Jake Dyson.

Over the past six months, Dyson has been secretly refitting one of the main aircraft hangars at Hullavington Airfield to prepare for 250 roboticists to move into their new home.

The master plan is to create the UK's largest, most advanced, robotics centre at Hullavington Airfield and to bring the technology into our homes by the end of the decade.

"Dyson employed its first roboticist 20 years ago and this year alone we are seeking 250 more experts for our team. This is a 'big bet' on future robotic technology that will drive research across the whole of Dyson, in areas including mechanical engineering, vision systems, machine learning and energy storage. We need the very best people in the world to come and join us now," said Dyson.

New recruits will be based at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, a new London laboratory close to the Dyson Robotics Lab at Imperial College, and Singapore, where Dyson's global headquarters is.

Its latest robotics makeover is the next stage in Dyson's £2.75bn investment plan in new technologies, products and facilities; £600m of which is to be spent this year.

Until now, Dyson's robots have been floor-based vacuum cleaners – the first of which, the DC06, was designed 20 years ago. Offering glimpses of new research in manipulation, robot learning, visual perception and compliant control, Dyson's film gives the world a first glimpse into its latest "big bet". It also shows a flight of stairs…

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