Hundreds of robotics and intelligent systems executives converged in Boston last week to attend the RoboBusiness Leadership Summit, an executive-level robotics event centered on advancing the commercialization of the robotics industry. Among the high level attendees present was iRobot CEO Colin Angle, who visited with Richard Erb, Managing Director of Robotics Trends, to discuss the maturation and future of the robotics industry.

Angle spoke about the importance of the RoboBusiness conference for the robotics industry, being a catalyst of growth by bringing together the key players. He also explained how the robotics industry is growing by leveraging technologies of other industries, sharing how technologies such as mobile computing and the video gaming industry are being leveraged in robotics to solve real world problems, to create value, as well as to create opportunity for robotics businesses. 

When asked about the future of the robotics industry,  Angle stated that healthcare robotics will play a major role in the growth of robotics. “We just passed the seven billion mark in population and we’re also seeing a shift in the age of our population,” stated Angle.  “Over the next fifteen years, the number of people in the U.S. over the age of 65 is going to double. How are we going to care for these people if we can’t currently afford to send them to nursing homes?  Nor do they want to go to nursing homes.  They want to live independently where they are today, longer. And so if this is going to be possible, then we need technology to solve it.  And it is not just a software internet solution because the challenges our aging population have are not just informational challenges, they’re physical challenges, and thus we need robots to meet the needs.”

iRobot is the Founding Sponsor of RoboBusiness 2011, where Colin Angle presented the keynote presentation “Robots that Matter.”  RoboBusiness Leadership Summit 2012 will take place October 23 - 24, 2012 at the Marriott Pittsburgh City Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.