IRobot's tech chief, cofounder quits job
Rodney Brooks will focus on new venture, take leave from MIT
A cofounder of iRobot Corp., the Bedford company that invented the Roomba vacuum cleaner, is leaving his post as chief technology officer.
Rodney Brooks, who started iRobot in 1990 with two former MIT students, said he is giving up the part-time position to focus on his new venture, Heartland Robotics, a Cambridge company that will also develop robots, but not compete with iRobot.
"They're a large company now," Brooks said of iRobot. "They really need someone who's a full-time chief technology officer. As the company grows, it's time for me to move on to other things and for them to move on also."
Brooks said he will also go on leave next week from his job as a robotics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
He will remain on the board of directors of iRobot and head the formation of a technical advisory board, aimed at keeping the company up to date with the latest technology.
"The idea is to create a panel of industry luminaries that will keep us on top of technology and where it is moving forward," said Nancy Smith, a spokeswoman for iRobot. "One of things we always looked to Rod for was his ability to keep his finger on top of what's happening."
IRobot's biggest breakthrough was the Roomba, a robotic household vacuum cleaner that can navigate through rooms and under furniture. In addition, the company has developed a line of robots - including the PackBot - which are used by the military to search for bombs and enemy soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Brooks said Heartland, his new company, will concentrate on helping "American workers be more productive through the use of robots."
He said that when he began iRobot with Helen Greiner and Colin Angle, the mobile robotics industry in Massachusetts was in its infancy.
"Mobile robots were sort of lab curiosity, and I'm so proud that we've been able to turn it into robots that are in everyday use in the US military and that they're saving lives," he said. "Another thing is that we've got millions of them in people's homes."
Also yesterday, iRobot said it has been awarded a contract under which the US Army could order up to $200 million in military robots, spare parts, training, and repair services over the next five years. The new contract allows the Army to order any of the robots within iRobot's government and industrial line, compared with previous contracts that were specifically for PackBot robots.
The company's stock closed at $13.95 yesterday, down 4 cents.
Jonnelle Marte can be reached at jmarte@globe.com. 