Much of the market believes humanoid robots and general-purpose AI are imminent. Rodney Brooks has spent four decades taking robots from the lab into the mainstream, and his record of separating hype from substance says otherwise.
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About Rodney Brooks
Rodney Brooks has spent four decades building robots that leave the lab. He co-founded iRobot Corp., where he helped bring autonomous consumer and defense robotics into the mainstream. At Rethink Robotics, he led development of the collaborative robots Baxter and Sawyer. Today Robust.AI, which he co-founded, is building cognitive engines for intelligent, collaborative robots.
The industrial record rests on an academic one. His research spans computer vision, robot navigation, micro-actuators, planetary exploration, artificial life and human-robot collaboration. He was featured in the Errol Morris documentary Fast, Cheap and Out of Control.
Research & Writing
Books by Rodney Brooks
Media
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Digital World
Will robots do our housework?
Association for Advancing Automation
Rodney Brooks on the Realities of Deploying Robots
CNET
The Robots Are Stumbling on Their Way to the Revolution
Forbes
How Ants Inspired This Founder To Build A Robotic Vacuum Cleaner
Forbes
Forbes 250: America's Most Successful Living Immigrants
ArtThreat
MIT robotics pioneer calls Musk’s Optimus vision “pure fantasy” as he exposes the impossible challenge ahead
Los Angeles Times
A Leading Roboticist Punctures the Hype About Self-Driving Cars, AI Chatbots And Humanoid Robots
Fortune
An MIT Roboticist Who Cofounded Bankrupt Roomba maker iRobot Says Elon Musk’s Vision of Humanoid Robot Assistants is ‘Pure Fantasy Thinking’
The New York Times
Rodney Brooks, the Godfather of Modern Robotics, Says the Field Has Lost Its Way
TechCrunch
The World Is Just Not Quite Ready for Humanoids Yet
Association for Advancing Automation
Don’t Forget to Tip Your Robot Bartender: Rodney Brooks on Humanoids
MIT News
Five MIT Faculty Elected to the National Academy of Sciences for 2025
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