Caterpillar acquire Marble robotic expertise

Select assets and employees acquired from robot and automation technology solutions company

CATERPILLAR Inc. have acquired select assets and hired employees from San Francisco-based robot and autonomy technology solutions company Marble Robot Inc., as part of the company’s automation and autonomy strategy.

Building on their leadership in autonomous mining, Caterpillar say they plan to leverage the deep expertise of the new team to bring scalable solutions to meet the changing needs of the construction, quarry, industrial and waste industries.

The new team is comprised of leading roboticists with a deep background in the robotics industry. Caterpillar 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 customers.

‘We’re excited to join the autonomy team at Caterpillar,’ said Kevin Peterson (pictured), former Marble chief executive officer, now 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 say they are well positioned to grow services based on their 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 their customers.

The company will continue to make investments in emerging technologies, such as automation and autonomy, in order to bring innovative solutions to meet the industries’ challenges.

‘Our customers need the best solutions for running an effective job site, with improved operator productivity, lower operating costs, and greater efficiency brought by autonomous solutions,’ said Karl Weiss, Caterpillar’s chief technology officer.

‘That’s why we’re continuing to invest in the areas of automation, remote control and autonomy.’