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Reliable Robotics unveils new development center for self-flying plane technology
Reliable Robotics, a Mountain View-based company that specializes in self-flying airplane technology, unveiled its new engineering and development center in the city last week.
“We’re developing safety enhancing technologies for existing aircraft that enable automated takeoff and automated landing without airport infrastructure, as well as automated taxiing,” Reliable Robotics co-founder and CEO Robert Rose told the Voice in an interview. “We see these features as being a tremendous safety improvement, especially with small aircraft.”
The company’s new center adds about 6,000 square feet of lab space, outfitted with the technology needed for rapid prototyping and manufacturing more equipment, Rose said.
“It’s significant because aviation grade components are not something that’s simple to manufacture,” Rose said. “There’s a fair bit of specialized equipment and know-how involved in doing this, and this is happening right here in Mountain View, right here in our own backyard.”
Reliable Robotics was joined by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo and State Sen. Josh Becker, as well as representatives from NASA and the FAA at the Feb. 16 ribbon cutting event.
“Reliable Robotics is on a mission to make aviation safer with technologies like auto-landing and auto-takeoff systems. It’s exciting to get a glimpse of the transformational aviation safety technology being developed in the 16th district,” said Eshoo in a Reliable Robotics statement. “In my two decades in Congress, I have promoted policies that foster innovation in Silicon Valley, and I am thrilled that Reliable Robotics is leveraging our talented workforce.”
With Silicon Valley’s deep history of hardware manufacturing, CEO Rose said he’s proud that Reliable Robotics is advancing that tradition in Mountain View.
“For the city of Mountain View specifically, this is significant in that it’s not just hardware manufacturing, but also this is highly specialized, high-end aerospace components,” Rose said. “And in an era when a lot of folks are looking at ways of moving this to the outer reaches, or off-shoring it, we’ve decided to keep it here, close to home.”
Santa Clara County opens warming centers as temperatures drop
Santa Clara County officials are encouraging those without access to warm shelter to take precaution through the weekend. The U.S. National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch and predicts frigid temperatures Thursday through Saturday for the South Bay region.
“Overnight temperatures are expected to dip into the mid to low 30s,” a county statement said. “People who are most vulnerable to cold temperatures, such as people who are unsheltered, should take precautions against hypothermia and seek shelter.”
People without access to shelter can come to a county-run warming center. The closest ones to Mountain View are located at the Los Altos Library (13 S. San Antonio Rd.) and the Sunnyvale Library (665 W. Olive Ave.).
“Outreach workers, community partners and volunteers are visiting encampments to distribute blankets, ponchos, tarps and tents while providing information about warming centers to people who are unsheltered,” the county statement added. “The Here 4 You Hotline at 408-385-2400 will operate with extended hours of 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. during the inclement weather period.”
For a full list of warming center locations and hours of operation, visit the county’s Office of Emergency Management webpage.
