Why is Google suddenly showing up in the robotics frontier, and how deep into the technology are they? This year Google has purchased 8 robotics companies. Google has also acquired 2 start-up companies: Bot & Dolly and AutoFuss. Also of interest is who Google is hiring into their robotic ranks.

This year, they hired machine learning expert Geoffrey Hinton and, last year, they hired famed inventor and artificial intelligence promoter Ray Kurzweil. Google is positioning for the coming of robotic technology and they are owning it early in the process.

Google sees several paths that future robots will walk. […]