Caterpillar acquires robotic and autonomy company
Move demonstrates commitment to the next generation of jobsite solutions for a range of industries from construction to waste management
Caterpillar Inc. has announced the acquisition of select assets and hiring of employees from San Francisco, California based Marble Robot, Inc. , a robotics and autonomy technology solutions specialist.
According to Caterpillar, the acquisition is part of their automation and autonomy strategy and demonstrates its commitment to the next generation of jobsite solutions. Building on its leadership in autonomous mining, Caterpillar plans to leverage the deep expertise of their newly acquired assets and team to bring scalable solutions to meet the changing needs of construction, quarry, industrial and waste industries.
The Marble Robot team is comprised of leading roboticists with a deep background in the robotics industry. Caterpillar says they intend to leverage the team's fully integrated on-board autonomy technology - including perception, localization and planning - to continue delivering smart, safe, more productive and cost-effective solutions to industrial customers, and take it to the next level.
"We're excited to join the autonomy team at Caterpillar," said Kevin Peterson, former Marble CEO, now a Caterpillar technologist. "In many ways, this completes a full circle for me. I had the privilege of working with Caterpillar early in my career at Carnegie Mellon, where they sponsored the development of the first generation of self-driving vehicle software. Now, with the acquisition of the Marble team, together we will drive the next generation of autonomy solutions for Caterpillar customers in the construction, quarry, industrial and waste industries."
Caterpillar says it is well-positioned to grow services based on its large installed base of connected equipment, outstanding field technology and decades of product, service and application expertise to turn that experience into useful insights for customers. The company will continue to make investments in emerging technologies, like automation and autonomy, in order to bring innovative solutions to meet the industries' challenges.
"Our customers need the best solutions for running an effective jobsite, with improved operator productivity, lower operating costs, and greater efficiency brought by autonomous solutions," said Karl Weiss, Caterpillar Chief Technology Officer. "That's why we're continuing to invest in the areas of automation, remote control and autonomy."
