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iRobot launched the Roomba, its first robot for the home, after more than ten years of making military robots.
A dated step forward on the record
What the source says
“After more than a decade of offering military products, iRobot debuts its first domestic robot -- the Roomba.”
What it means
Robot vacuums and mops, from Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, iRobot, Shark, is at stage 5 of 5 on our ladder: regulator-cleared or mass market. Its stage is set by other milestones on its record; this one adds to the history.
Human help: Our sources report it working without human help.
More on Robot vacuums and mops
- IDC counted 32.7 million home cleaning robots shipped worldwide in 2025, up 20% on the year before. Smart vacuums were nearly three-quarters of them.
- IDC said Chinese brands now lead several home cleaning robot categories, and that iRobot, which created the market, fell out of the global top five vacuum makers in 2025.
- A man trying to steer his DJI Romo robot vacuum with a game controller found he could reach about 7,000 Romo vacuums in 24 countries, including live camera feeds, microphone audio and home floor plans. DJI said it fixed the flaw with updates on 8 and 10 February.
- Picea completed its takeover of iRobot, which left bankruptcy as a private company wholly owned by Picea.
- iRobot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Delaware, in a deal to be taken over by Picea, its main Chinese manufacturer. Shareholders were set to lose their whole investment.
- Amazon dropped its plan to buy iRobot. iRobot said it would lay off 31% of its staff, about 350 people, and its CEO Colin Angle stepped down.