Boston Dynamics, CyPhy Works among 2013's big robot bets

Cromwell Schubarth, Silicon Valley Business Journal It was a record year for funding and acquisitions in drones and other robots — with Amazon's unmanned delivery plans and Google's Boston Dynamics acquisition this month putting an exclamation point on the trend. It's still early days, for sure, but venture capitalists hope to cash in on some of the billions in sales of robots projected in coming years, according to a report from CB Insights. There have also been more than 23 acquisitions of robotics startups, including eight by Google alone — among them its acquisition of Waltham, Mass.-based walking robot maker Boston Dynamics. The largest funding deal of the robotics year was the $50...