Helen Greiner - Co-inventor of the Roomba Vacuum Cleaner
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| Audience/Grade: | College Freshman-Continuing Education |
| Discipline(s): |
Computer Science Computing Diversity Design Electrical Engineering Engineering Diversity Entrepreneurship and Innovation Mechanical Engineering |
| Special Topic(s): |
Women and Information Technology |
| Learning Resource Type: |
Teaching - Case Study |
| Media Type: |
Unknown |
| Author(s): |
Organization:The Great Idea Finder |
| Description: | Case study of a woman inventor - Helen Greiner. "Under Ms. Greiner's leadership, iRobot Corporation is delivering robots into the industrial, consumer, academic, and military markets. Recently, she was named the Ernst and Young New England Entrepreneurs of the Year® for 2003 (with iRobot co-founder Colin Angle). Selected from entrants across New England, she was cited for her experience, expertise and innovation. She has also been honored as a Technology Review Magazine "Innovator for the Next Century," invited to the World Economic Forums as a Global Leader of Tomorrow, and has been awarded the prestigious DEMO God Award at the DEMO Conference. Her 15 years of experience in robotic technology includes work at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. She holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering and an M.S. in Computer Science, both from MIT. It is iRobot’s foray into the home that is putting the company on the map. Greiner says she and her colleagues knew that if they could find a way to relieve folks from the drudgery of household tasks, it would be a big hit with consumers. “For 13 years, when we introduced ourselves, people would say, ‘Can you make a robot that will clean my house?’” So the trio turned their attention to creating a robotic vacuum they could market for $200. Roomba is a small, disc-shaped vacuum that cruises around a room, using sensors to maneuver around furniture and avoid stairs. Indications are they did it right. Since its launch in September 2002, Roomba has been selling briskly (again, iRobot won’t disclose numbers) and won the Good Housekeeping seal of approval. It was chosen as one of Oprah’s “favorite things” and was featured at the VH1 Diva Awards Show party, where celebrities wore “real divas don’t vacuum” T-shirts. “They’re the first ones to make a commercial success of what would be considered domestic robotics,” says Craig Jennings, president of the Robotic Industries Association. “Nobody else has had a product that has had the success of Roomba. I think they hit a home run.” |
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| Related Resources | |
| Keywords: | vacuum cleaner design Rodney Brooks Colin Angle Helen Greiner |
| Usage Tip | |
| Use of Resource: |
Part of a website dedicated to inventors. |
| Difficulty: |
Easy |
| Interactivity Level: |
Very low |
| Version Info | |
| Publication Date: | February 2008 |
| Platform/Format: |
WWW |
| Cost: |
Free |
| Download URL: | http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/greiner.htm |
| Metadata: |
IEEE LOM Record |
| Collection: |
NEEDS
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