Google's Robotic Arms Failed Larry Page's 'Toothbrush Test,' So The Project Was Cancelled

Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL's Google unit wanted to begin selling robotic arms it created to manufacturers, warehouse operators and other clients, but the technology failed CEO Larry Page's test.

According to a Bloomberg report, Google's robotics unit had a prototype robotic arm that worked and could have been shipped to clients. However, toward the end of 2015, the project was cancelled after it failed Page's "toothbrush test," which requires all shipped products to be used daily by billions of people.

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Bloomberg further noted that Page's decision to cancel the project resulted in frustration within Google's robotics team since it was a working prototype. Approximately 50 robotic arms were built that can lift 10 pounds each and could have been sold at a low price relative to competing products.

"It was still a prototype, but it had a lot of advantages," Bloomberg quoted James Kuffner, chief technology officer at the Toyota Research Institute who previously led Google's robotics unit as saying. "The team worked really hard. If it had been entirely up to me I would have shipped it. But it was not."

Finally, Bloomberg noted that although Google won't be selling its robotic arms to factories and warehouses, it is using the same technology to explore the technique of "collective learning" — how robots can share new data and information with each other.

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