Dyson set to preview new robots to help with tasks at home

Dyson says it plans to build home assistant robots that will be in homes by the end of the decade, and is issuing a call to robotics engineers to join the technology firm.

The UK-founded firm, best known for its hairdryers and vacuum cleaners, announced plans to open a robotics centre at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, where work on new types of home robots will be led by Dyson’s chief engineer, Jake Dyson.

During the International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Philadelphia on Wednesday, the company will publish a short film showing “secret robotic prototypes”, including several robotic hands grasping objects around the home, which the firm said offer a hint to its plans to move beyond robotic vacuum cleaners.

The company will confirm plans to hire 250 robotics engineers as part of a wider recruitment it says has already seen 2,000 people join this year globally.

Dyson said it also plans to hire 700 more people in the robotics field over the next five years as part of a £2.75 billion ($3.4 billion) investment plan in new technologies, products and facilities, with £600 million set to be spent this year.

As a result of the recruitment and investment, which will also a see new robotics labs created in London and some new recruits based at the firm’s global headquarters in Singapore, the company says it wants to have new robotic technologies in people’s homes by the end of this decade.

“Dyson employed its first roboticist 20 years ago and this year alone we are seeking 250 more experts for our team,” Dyson said.

“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.”