iRObot Corporation: Empowering Machines to Shape the Future

Robots have made a difference in our lives. As technology continues to evolve, robots also get to be more sophisticated. These machines have helped several industries make a difference in how we live our lives. iRobot Corporation is one of the companies that design and create various kinds of robots. The company is headquartered in Bedford, Massachusetts and was founded in 1990 by partners Helen Greiner, Colin Angle and Rodney Brooks. These entrepreneurs once worked in MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab.

iRobot is best known for Roomba (the home vacuum cleaner robot), Packbot (military and police) and Scooba (a robot that scrubs and cleans hard floors). They continue to innovate their offerings and provide the market with robots use for household operations, military and police, medical; research and dual-role robots. Since its inception, the company has deployed more than 5,000 military and defense robots and more than 8 million home robots.

The robots deployed for military and police use have proven to be of invaluable service to the armed forces. These machines have been deployed in Iraq and in Afghanistan together with the operations of the US military forces. Their PackBots have also ventured into dangerous terrains and areas to gather data that are used for various purposes. These have been sent to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster site and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Their medical robots are capable of plugging in diagnostic devices like ultrasound, stethoscope and otoscopes.

iRobot has recently released a new wave of robots that are capable of assisting in educational environments. These machines are used to record data and provide research services. Several other machines have been released that are capable of playing music, help in doing laundry and the dishes, provide assistance in military espionage and even perform simple medical procedures. The company continues to shape our future by empowering machines to perform some of our mundane tasks.