The Boston tech scene is all about robots today. While Rethink Robotics was unveiling its new humanoid factory worker to the world, the godfather of commercial robotics was busy doubling down on its core strength.
Bedford, MA-based iRobot (NASDAQ: [[ticker:IRBT]]), the maker of Roomba vacuum cleaners, said last night it is acquiring Evolution Robotics, the Pasadena, CA-based maker of Mint floor-cleaning robots, for $74 million in cash. The acquisition is expected to add $4-6 million in revenue this year for iRobot, and $22-24 million next year.
Evolution Robotics’ CEO, Paolo Pirjanian, is joining iRobot as chief technology officer, based in Pasadena. His company’s Mint robot is designed to dust and mop hard-surface floors using cleaning cloths like the Swiffer.
The bigger picture is that iRobot needs to dominate the home-cleaning robot market in order to continue its growth. And the sector has become much more competitive since the Roomba rolled out 10 years ago this week. The 22-year-old company faces challenges in its home and defense markets, but it is also working on innovative new products in healthcare and other areas.
Author: Gregory T. Huang
Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003.
Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
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