The Industrial Revolution was a human revolution, as was the Information Revolution. The fusion of the two, however, is spawning something else: the Robotic Age. You wouldn't know it to look at factory assembly bots or household floor cleaning bots, which are the Tin Lizzies of the robotic future. But then, could James Watt imagine the freeways, supersonic planes, nuclear submarines, and space stations of today? And the robotic synthesis will happen much faster.
Robots are already rescuing earthquake victims, chopping vegetables, giving the wounded new limbs, driving cars, acting as our agents in cyberspace, and lifting more beer than ever (58 kilograms, as of June 2013). Cars, 3-D printers, drones, and prosthetics are all robots.
What will life be like when all the robots—physical and virtual—are connected to one another? Will robots replace humans in our economy or enhance us?
EVAN ACKERMAN, Senior Writer, IEEE Spectrum
Topic: A Review of 2013 in Robotics and What 2014 Has in Store
COLIN ANGLE, Chief Executive Officer, iRobot
Topic: Building a Successful Robotics Business
JAMES BARRAT, Documentary Filmmaker
Topic: Can We Share the Planet with Smarter-than-Human Machines?
STEVE COUSINS, Chief Executive Officer, Savioke, and former President, Willow Garage
Topic: Service Robots
JIM GIMZEWSKI, Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles
Topic: Machines That Can Think
BRIAN DAVID JOHNSON, Futurist, Intel
Topic: Jimmy the Robot
JOHN LONG, Professor of Biology and Chair of Biology, Vassar College
Topic: Robots, Evolution, and Complexity
GARY MARCUS, Professor, NYU & DOUG LENAT, Member, TTI/Vanguard Advisory Board
Topic: How Far Are We From Strong AI? A Conversation with Marvin Minsky
MAJA MATARIĆ, Chaired Professor of Computer Science, Neuroscience and Pediatrics, University of Southern California
Topic: Creating Robots That (Provide) Care
MARVIN MINSKY, Toshiba Professor of Media Arts and Sciences, and Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Topic: How Far Are We From Strong AI?
CATHERINE MOHR, Senior Director of Medical Research, Intuitive Surgical
Topic: Surgical Robotics and the Nature of Disruption
ALEXANDER REBEN, Artist & Roboticist
Topic: The Needy Robot and Our Relationship with Emotional Machines
DANIELA RUS, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Director, Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, MIT
Topic: The Robots are Coming
JOSEPH SCHLESINGER, Founder, ArcBotics, and Founder & Director, MakeIt Labs
Topic: Your Laptop Is a Factory: Using Robots to Build Robots
RUSS TEDRAKE, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, MIT
Topic: Dynamics and Control for Supermaneuverable UAVs and the DARPA Robotics Challenge
MARCO TEMPEST, Virtual Magician, Newmagic Communications
Topic: Robot Magic: Creating the Illusion of the Thinking Machine
MANUELA VELOSO, Herbert A. Simon Professor, Carnegie Mellon University
Topic: Symbiotic Autonomy: Robots, Humans, and the Web
iRobot Corporation
Founded in 1990 by Massachusetts Institute of Technology roboticists, iRobot designs and builds some of the world's most important robots. More than 10 million home robots have been sold worldwide, with the award-winning iRobot Roomba floor vacuuming robot leading the charge. More than 5,000 of the company's defense & security robots have been delivered to researchers, military and civil defense forces worldwide, performing thousands of dangerous missions while protecting those in harm's way.
On this custom tour of iRobot, conducted by several of the company's senior executives, we will visit all three of the company's product areas:
Home
- Besides the wildly popular Roomba vacuum cleaning robot, the company makes robots that scrub and mop floors, clean swimming pools, and clean house gutters.
Commercial Applications
- iRobot produces autonomous robots for telepresence. These robots allow for increased collaboration in the workplace and for doctors to communicate with patients from anywhere in the world.
Defense and Security
- These robots are used for explosive ordnance disposal, reconnaissance, and other hazardous missions. iRobot's line of defense and security robots enter dangerous environments before military personnel and first responders to assess potential hazards, keeping people out of harm's way.