Google Inc. has acquired seven companies for a robotics project led by Andy Rubin, the former head of the Android software unit, as the world's largest online search provider moves away from its comfort zone and into an entirely new area of technology research.

The new project will include purchases of several robotics companies in Japan and the United States. Somehow Google has already managed to acquire seven companies without the public ever finding out. All of them will help Google with it's ambitious goal, as reported by VentureBeat, to "create a smart, mobile, dextrous robot that can work alongside - or in place of - humans."

You can take a look at a more in-depth look at each of these companies HERE via VentureBeat.

With Rubin at the helm, it looks like Google's robotics project will hit the ground running with one of the best minds the company has to offer. Rubin helped Android beat Apple Inc.'s iOS software for mobile devices by taking 70 percent of the smartphone market and running it on Android phones Bloomberg reports.

"I am excited about Andy Rubin's next project," Google Chief Executive Officer Larry Page said in a post that linked to an article by the New York Times discussing Rubin's robotics endeavor. "His last big bet, Android, started off as a crazy idea that ended up putting a supercomputer in hundreds of millions of pockets. It is still very early days for this, but I can't wait to see the progress"

Robotics will join the Google Glass, the self-driving car and broadband communications among the company's top tier of research innovations the Calif.-based tech giant is working on.

"We applaud 'moonshot' mentality and culture," Benjamin Schachter, an analyst at Macquarie Securities USA Inc., said in a note to clients. "We believe that, despite potential failures of particular initiatives and investments, overall, there are financial benefits for investors from these efforts."