Heartland Robotics is Going to Change the World…

Sometimes it is what people say that is so profound vs. their inventions.  In the video below iRobot founder, Rodney Brooks, makes a salient point that just like personal computing in the next two decades robots will be everywhere.  You may recall that computers pre-Gates/Jobs were in a locked room that only a select few could access. Today, we can not imagine a world without computers, tablets and smartphones.  I further predict that our children will be unable to envision a world without bots.

Brooks is the founder of Heartland Robotics, a company that boasts of working on the next generation of robots that will change our world. There is reason to believe that Brooks means what he says, besides his own background he has compiled a team from Dell, Bose, NASA, 3M and DEKA Research.  In addition, his first investor is Jeff Bezos of Amazon that just acquired KIVA SYSTEMS, one of the largest robotic warehouse platforms.  Heartland’s website exclaims, “Robots will change the way we work.  They will have intelligence and awareness. They will be teachable, safe and affordable. They will make us productive in ways we never imagined.”

Industry insiders have heard that Brooks is working on a robotic iPhone like device (with a target price of $5,000).  This device will be open to robot developers that could write software to teach robots new tasks.  For example,  the robot may be able to be “trained to perform a certain repetitive task just by moving its arm and gripper.”  Stay tuned, as Heartland is scheduled to unveil its product at the 2013 Automate trade show in Chicago.  In any case, Brooks is someone to watch…