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Business Wars

Roomba: Hitting the Wall | Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control | 1

48 min

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About this episode

It’s 1984 and MIT professor Rodney Brooks has a radical idea: robots don't need complicated brains to navigate the world — they just need simple rules. Brooks and two of his students, Colin Angle and Helen Greiner, turn that idea into a company called iRobot. The company chases government contracts and builds robotic dolls. But in 2002, iRobot breaks through with the Roomba — a vacuuming robot. The Roomba bumps into chair legs, takes cats for joyrides, and propels iRobot to a blockbuster IPO. But the Roomba is headed for trouble. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Roomba: Hitting the Wall | Fast, Cheap, and Out of Control | 1 — Business Wars