Tech giant Google quietly acquired seven robotics companies in the US and Japan in the past six months for a project headed by Android founder Andy Rubin. The latest venture is an effort to compete with the flying delivery drones of Amazon, according to The New York Times.

Google's newly acquired robotics firms included Schaft, Meka, Industrial Perception, Redwood Robotics, Autofuss, Holomni, and Bot & Dolly. The tech giant had put Rubin as head of the said project to create manufacturing and logistics robots, the report said. The seven companies reportedly have the capability of creating technologies for mobile and dexterous robots. Rubin said he was eyeing more acquisitions for the said project, the report stated.

The robotics team of Google will be initially based in Palo Alto. An office in Japan will also be established for the project. In addition to the recent acquisitions, Rubin has started hiring roboticists and bringing in programmers from Google to help in the project, The New York Times reported.