Page 82 - Modern Robotics Building Versatile Macines

62 Modern Robotics

Although iRobot is now, with more than 200 employees, the
world’s largest robot maker, Greiner, Angle, and other robot-
ics entrepreneurs will face many tough obstacles in developing
new applications. The remote control and telepresence applica-
tions (such as military, law enforcement, and home monitoring)
are probably easier, since they do not involve having the robot
make autonomous high-level decisions. There would be great
consumer interest in being able to buy a “Jetson’s” robot that is
smart and versatile enough to perform many different tasks, but
even the most advanced laboratory research robots can perform
only limited, well-defined tasks in simplified environments
(lawn-mowing robots are already modestly popular). Perhaps
we will have to be content with specialized robots for some time
to come.

Honored for Innovation

Angle and Greiner were named New England Entrepreneur of the
Year for 2003 by Ernst and Young. Greiner has also been honored
as an “Innovator for the Next Century” by MIT’s Technology
Review magazine, as well as receiving the “Demo GOD” award
from the prestigious DEMO Conference, a showcase for cutting-
edge technology.
No doubt the publicity that Angle and Greiner have garnered
(and the sight of Roombas patrolling the floors of millions of
homes) is likely to help inspire the upcoming generation of young
robot designers. Indeed, by 2005, it was reported that young “robot
hackers” were modifying Roombas to serve as platforms for their
own robotics projects.

Chronology

1968 Helen Greiner born in London

1969 Colin Angle born in Niskayuna, New York