— Top scientists around the world are trying to improve upon robots,
which can already detect bombs, perform surgery and even go into battle.
At
Of course, iRobot’s scientists do other things too.
The company, best known for its Roomba floor vacuum, recently sent
machines to
But home robots — dominated by vacuums — make up 55
percent of the company’s revenue and are part of the reason iRobot is
on a tear. Shares are up 43 percent since the start of the year, and
the company earned a profit of
Last week, the company announced it had won a contract to make bomb disposal robots for the Navy.
That iRobot, the only public company that focuses
purely on robotics, is getting attention from investors indicates that
this young industry is becoming more mainstream. As analysts and
consumers get more comfortable with robots, more companies might
succeed in the space.
“It’s almost like buying Internet companies in the 1990s,” said
Not everyone is a fan. A 2008 Consumer Reports
review of vacuums found that the Roomba 560 “was among the worst
performers at cleaning edges and corners.” On consumer tech site
The company is now trying to boost sales of
secondary items, such as pool and gutter cleaners, to go along with its
bestselling Roomba and Scooba robots.
Next up: a device on wheels that can follow you
around the house like Rosie from “The Jetsons” and someday maybe even
bring you a beer. The company predicts an expanding market in robots
that assist the country’s aging population.
“No one has ever made money with robots before,” said Chief Executive
a freckle-faced 43-year-old who happens to be married to Erika Ebbel,
Miss Massachusetts 2004. “But ours create more value than they cost to
build.”
The growth is evident at the company’s headquarters in a
office park, where young men in ties and white shirts follow a tour on
their first day of orientation. Awards from the last decade sit along
the walls: gold-plated and silver Roombas, a crystal Entrepreneur of
the Year award for Angle.
The success is new for a company that teetered on
the edge of survival for its first decade and a half. Founded in 1990
by Angle,
At the time, few investors believed this was a
profitable venture, so the three put company expenses on their credit
cards, and struggled.
“We were unfundable,” said Angle, walking through an
exhibit in the company’s headquarters of experiments from iRobot’s past
— a baby doll robot, a Zamboni-like vacuum, a furry creature that runs
away from humans when it senses anger.
receive its first venture funding until 1998. Even then, its endeavors
were disjointed, spread across eight divisions: robots that could
vacuum floors, entertain children and work on oil wells, to name just a
few. It sent robots to work in war zones in
The company nearly went under in 2002 as it tried to
find retailers that would stock the newly completed Roomba. Just when
its founders had given up hope, the Brookstone retailing chain called,
saying that a test run of the machines had gone well and that consumer
demand was increasing.
“We went from the lowest of the low to the most exciting time,” Angle said. “Suddenly, things started to work.”
Even after the company went public in 2005, its
financial problems continued. Its stock slid, precipitously at times,
to a low of
cash because of manufacturing issues and the high price of nickel,
which is used to make batteries.
A new chief financial officer,
has helped the company better manage its finances, analysts say, as has
a focus on what it does best: robotic vacuums. Demand is growing
overseas as the company expands into
International sales grew 70 percent in 2010, and international home
robot revenue made up two-thirds of the company’s home robot sales.
The military machines have been a success too:
managing director at Brigantine Advisors, an investment research
company. And the contracts keep coming in. Aside from the Navy deal,
the Army said in March that it had ordered 76 small unmanned ground
vehicles from iRobot.
“The company during that period really did grow from
focused on the next flashy thing to the nuts and bolts of running a
business,” Coffey said. “Things like quality assurance and all the
heavy lifting stuff came to bear.”
to enter the health care field with Ava, essentially a device on wheels
that works with existing tablet computers and can follow people around,
sensing walls and other obstacles. If someone is trying to reach a
senior citizen who isn’t answering the phone, for example, Ava can go
find the person, Angle said.
The company is inviting iPad developers to get into the game, designing apps for Ava.
It’s just one way the company is expanding outside of cleaning products to make robots a more common presence in our lives.
“Nearly 100 percent of robots are going to help us
do more and more and be part of a better life,” Angle said. “It’s the
stuff of dreams.”
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