When you hear the name “iRobot”, the first image that likely comes to mind is the iconic Roomba vacuum busily crisscrossing floors.
But behind this famed consumer robot lies over 30 years of innovation across robot types and use cases by a pioneering company.
Founded by 3 MIT roboticists in 1990, iRobot was launched with the vision of bringing cutting-edge lab robotics out of science fiction and into practical real-world applications.
Today, iRobot’s technology spans everything from remote-controlled warzone robots saving soldiers’ lives to autonomous robotic mops tackling your kitchen floors.
Here’s a comprehensive look into iRobot’s inception, the many pioneering robots built through the decades, and their steady progress towardadvanced autonomous machines tackling humanity’s dull dirty dangerous tasks.
In the Beginning: Building Real Robots For Real Needs
iRobot’s founders Colin Angle, Helen Greiner and Rodney Brooks met in the late 1980s while working at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab, one of the top robotics research hubs worldwide.
As graduate students and post-doctoral researchers, they were intricately involved in projects advancing robotics across perception, planning, control and navigation.
They had a front-row seat to technologies that would allow robots to break free from tight controls and scripting, and flexibly navigate real-world environments.
In 1990 the researchers decided to commercialize these emerging capabilities by founding iRobot.
The Practical Robotics Company is Born
While sci-fi pop culture fueled fascinations of sentient humanoid robots, Colin, Helen and Rodney had a more grounded vision:
“We wanted to make practical robots that would do things in the real world, instead of being demonstrations in labs”
This pursuit of real-world functionality directed iRobot’s path from the very beginning.
Their first robot built in 1991, Genghis, was a robust six-wheeled robotic platform for traversing rough natural terrain during space exploration missions. It served as a working prototype rather than a fanciful concept robot.
Over the 1990s, iRobot operated on small SBIR contracts outfitting robots for exploration, defense surveillance and bomb disposal use cases.
They invested heavily in pioneering autonomous navigation capabilities like SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping), breakthrough technologies that fueled a wave of real-world robot deployments through the 2000s across industries.
Here’s a quick snapshot of iRobot in the 1990s:
| Year | Major Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1990 | iRobot founded by 3 MIT roboticists |
| 1991 | First robot Genghis built – a 6-wheeled rover |
| 1993 | Entirely employee-owned company |
| 1996 | Built Ariel for finding and disabling mines |
| 1998 | Won DARPA contract to build recon/surveillance micro-robots |
Finding Early Success in Defense Robotics
While refining core autonomous functionality, iRobot began making headways supplying defense agencies with unmanned robotic equipment.
Their robot Ariel developed in 1996 could comb beaches and autonomously detect mines buried under shallow surf – dangerous missions that prevented human loss of life.
And the period between 1998-2000 saw rapid funding and growth fueled by military surveillance robot prototypes that would culminate in their most decorated defense robot.
PackBot: Pioneering Life-Saving Battlefield Robots
Post-9/11 in 2002, the first PackBot tactical military robots were deployed in Afghanistan alongside infantry units. Weighing just 30 pounds, these small treaded robots drove ahead on dangerous missions – providing critical real-time reconnaissance and bomb disposal while keeping soldiers out of harm’s way.
Over 4,600 PackBots have since served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Their performance and reliability under fire – literally – forged their reputation as the pioneering battlefield robots.
But PackBot’s path to combat was paved by earlier disaster response missions that fully revealed their lifesaving potential.
Answering 9/11’s Call
Shortly after the September 11 attacks in 2001, iRobot received an urgent call from responders at New York’s Ground Zero site asking for small robots. Combing the vast rubble piles was dangerous for rescue crews but critical for finding trapped survivors.
iRobot quickly rallied and shipped an early PackBot prototype to zip through tight spaces inaccessible to humans, scoping underwater voids with its infrared camera.
These disaster test runs demonstrated PackBot’s stability and perception capabilities in risky unpredictabile situations beyond scripted demos – earning plaudits from recovery teams.
When US infantry units shipped out to Afghanistan soon after, PackBots went with them to scout ahead on real missions, drawing on iRobot’s decade of experience supplying robots for defense applications.
Over 20 years later PackBots and the company’s other defense robots continue serving in the field – testaments to the founding team’s pursuit of practicality even amidst warzone chaos.
Robot Stats: PackBot Impact Over 20 Years
Across its 6000+ unit operational history, the hardy PackBot has clocked impressive stats while saving hundreds of soldiers’ lives:
- 54,000+ missions completed in combat zones
- 250,000+ operational hours in field use
- 21,000+ explosive ordnances disposed, devices detonated
- 98% reliability rate amidst grueling on-field conditions
- 3 Major Awards for innovation and service
As the pioneering battlefield robot, PackBot set the bar for what’s possible in real-world defense applications – much like iRobot’s next robot would do for consumer products.
Launching The Roomba: Taking Robots Mainstream
While PackBot military robots were secreting scouting enemy terrain in 2002, a different pioneering robot from iRobot was gearing up to infiltrate households worldwide.
Say Hello To The Roomba
The Roomba vacuum cleaning robot launched in 2002 to instant intrigue. Could this unassuming disc-shaped device be smart enough to handle all your home’s cleaning needs autonomously?
Early reviews were mixed – while Roomba’s persistence delighted pet owners, finnicky navigation sensors often left it stuck under chairs or stranded in corners mid-clean.
But behind the scenes iRobot was hard at work educating their hungry algorithms – slowing building the competency for reliable entire home coverage.
The Quest For The Perfect Robot Vacuum
While today’s navigation capabilities leveraging vision, depth sensors and AI learning have grown incredibly sophisticated, Roomba had to master room traversal with far more modest technologies back in the 2000s:
- IR sensors: Detecting proximity to walls/objects to navigate rooms
- Contact sensors: Feel its bumper hitting obstacles to trigger cornering
- Dirt detection: Identifying messes to clean more thoroughly
- Wheel encoders: Using turn counts to estimate distance/location
Despite the simplicity, these sensors feeding algorithms optimized over thousands of test runs are what enabled early Roombas to methodically clean while overcoming sensor noise and householder clutter.
And over 2 decades these competencies grew dramatically:
Today’s Top-End Roombas leverage:
- vSLAM navigation: Visual simultaneous localization and mapping for precision multi-room coverage
- Smart maps: Remembering home layouts, furniture locations, cleaning habits
- Self-emptying: Automatically sucking debris into enclosed bags without human intervention
- App controls: Customizable schedules, cleaning zones, tracking via a mobile app
- Voice assistants: Controlling your robot vacuum with Alexa or Google Home voice commands
These innovations built upon early Roomba’s breakthrough cleaning competence have pushed home robotics squarely into mainstream.
By The Numbers: Roomba’s Wildly Success
- 60+Roomba models released over 20 years
- 30+ million Roombas sold globally as of 2020
- Over 5 billion sq ft of floor space cleaned daily
- ~13% global robotic vacuum market share
- 90% brand awareness in robotic floor care
And with recent iRobot models like the Roomba j7 tackling higher-level capabilities like visual object recognition alongside their signature navigation and cleaning skills, they seem poised to continue leading the consumer robotics charge.
Pioneering Progress Across Industries
While defense PackBots and domestic Roombas have captured pop culture imagination, iRobot has actively advanced robotics across industries via spinoffs, acquisitions and internal projects:
2005: Trading Publicly, Pushing New Consumer Categories
Fresh off Roomba’s early success, iRobot went public in 2005 to fund expanding their consumer lineup:
- Launched the Scooba robot mopping hard floors
- Built niche offerings like Verro (pool cleaner), Looj (gutter cleaner)
- Focused segmenting home cleaning/maintenance
2012: Evolution Robotics Buyout
Acquiring home robotics competitor Evolution Robotics in 2012 added better object recognition and visual navigation to complement their core area coverage strengths.
2017: Expanding Global Reach
From initial US dominance, recent global expansions have targeted international opportunities:
- Acquired top European robotics retailer Robopolis
- Bought Japanese sales company SODC
- Opened Shanghai office to tap growing Chinese markets
Maritime & Medical Research
Beyond established products, R&D continues across robot types:
- Seagliders – Long-rangeweather-resistant aquatic drones
- RP-VITA – Doctor-assistant mobile robots
- Root – Coding robot to grow future talent
The Next 30 Years
As technologies like computer vision, AI and high speed 5G networks continue advancing, so will the level of multi-purpose intelligence and autonomy across iRobot’s products – allowing them to tackle more complex real-world situations.
Stay tuned for the next pioneering robots emerging from iRobot Labs!
The Humans Behind The Robots
While cutting-edge technologies underlie all of iRobot’s machines, a uniquely talented team building them has been equally key to success.
Founding Fathers: The MIT Pioneers
As MIT labmates in late 1980s, iRobot’s founding troika were knee-deep advancing robot fundamentals like navigation, manipulation and intelligence.
Colin Angle proposed autonomous vacuum cleaning and founded iRobot to commercialize lab robotics. He continues leading as CEO.
Helen Greiner built early prototypes like Ariel and PackBot and shipped first robots on key defense projects.
Rodney Brooks provided academic and AI expertise from MIT director roles while advising startups.
United by curiosity and pragmatic ambition, their complementary skills powered iRobot’s early innovation economy.
Growing The Talent Pool
From the founding team to current staff spread globally, iRobot has prioritized nurturing talent passionate about realizing robotics’ real-world potential.
Initiatives like their STEM/STEAM education program allows students hands-on learning with Root coding robots and exposes future generations to careers in robotics.
And their internal culture retains employees through autonomy, growth opportunities, and purposeful work improving lives at home and beyond.
Awards And Acclaims
External validations have periodically recognized both their technological excellence and workplace culture:
- 2021: Fast Company #1 Most Innovative Robotics Company
- 2020: Top Workplaces USA Award
- 2019: Technology & Engineering EMMY Award
- 2018: Robotics Business Review Game Changer Award
But beyond the shiny trophies, iRobot’s lasting legacy has been bringing robots out of fantasy and into daily reality across dozens of industries and use cases.
The Future of Robotics Shaped By Its Past
iRobot enters its fourth decade pillars of practical robotics with expansive reach:
- 5 million+ home robots sold to date across vacuuming, mopping, and more
- 5,000+ defense robots protecting soldiers and first responders
Their early innovations have also filtered through the industry, with once-exotic capabilities like visual SLAM, room mapping sensors and AI now featured in phones, drones, self-driving cars steering the world toward an automated future.
And the company continues pushing boundaries on what jobs robots can tackle in the home and beyond.
Roombas are already handling vacuuming, mopping, pool cleaning and gutter clearing while defense Packbots take on dangerous reconnaissance, EOD and hazmat missions.
What’s next for iRobot? Here’s Colin Angle on the future:
“I grew up watching The Jetsons and Star Wars and thinking wouldn’t the world be amazing if we had robots. And now we do!”
If the last 30 years are any indicator, this pioneer of practical robotics is just getting started wowing the world with ever-more capable autonomous machines!
