- December 4, 2013 10:01am EST
Rubin discussed the "moonshot" project in an interview with The New York Times, though it likely won't come to fruition within the next decade.
In March, the 50-year-old Google executive stepped down as Android chief to "start a new chapter at Google," CEO Larry Page said at the time. It turns out that new chapter is ripped from the pages of a science fiction book.
Rubin is no stranger to robotics. Before joining Apple in 1989, he worked as a robotics engineer at German manufacturer Carl Zeiss. He later co-founded hardware design company Danger Inc. — acquired by Microsoft — and Android Inc., which Google bought in 2005.
"I have a history of making my hobbies into a career," Rubin told the Times. "This is the world's greatest job. Being an engineer and a tinkerer, you start thinking about what you would want to build for yourself."
It turns out Rubin wants to build robots for himself.
Over the past year and a half, Google has acquired seven U.S. and Japanese tech companies with the intent of developing a new generation of robots, the paper said. Among those companies are Schaft, a team of Japanese roboticists from Tokyo University, and Industrial Perception, an American startup that developed robot arms for loading and unloading trucks.
According to the Times, Google has also quietly purchased Meka, Redwood Robotics, Bot & Dolly (which worked on the recent acclaimed film Gravity), Autofuss, and Holomni.
Together, those organizations can build a mobile, dexterous robot, said Rubin, though Google continues to pursue additional acquisitions.
It is unclear exactly how Google intends to use these robots, but the Times pointed to the tech giant's new Google Shopping Express same-day delivery service — a California-based pilot program that aims to save consumers time and effort — as a possible use case for the automated machines.
Google did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment.
Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, meanwhile, recently announced that the online retailer is experimenting with drones that will provide half-hour, same-day delivery, dubbed PrimeAir.
