The potential of home robots has long been unfulfilled, despite consumer demand and manufacturers’ efforts. The key factors hindering their success are pricing, functionality, and efficacy. While robot vacuums like Roomba have gained traction, other home robots lack the necessary capabilities or perform their tasks well enough. Building a robot that meets both criteria would be prohibitively expensive for most consumers.
The success of Roomba lies in its simplicity and focus on a single task: cleaning floors. Over the years, iRobot has improved the system with sensing, mapping, AI integration, and compatibility with smart assistants. However, their attempts to expand into other categories like gutter clearing, pool cleaning, and lawn mowing have failed to replicate Roomba’s success.
The challenges in developing complex home robots are evident. Tesla’s announcement of a humanoid robot that can perform various tasks may sound promising, but the reality is that building such a machine at scale and an affordable price is extremely difficult. The more complex a robot, the more potential points of failure it has.
Experts believe that early home robots will be designed for simple tasks like social interaction, caregiving, and housework. Each robot will likely have one or two functions to focus on. These robots will pave the way for more advanced machines in the future.
While the progress of home robots may seem slow, it’s important to recognize the groundwork that has already been laid. The success of future home robots will build upon ongoing research and the lessons learned from previous models. For example, the first Roomba laid the foundation for navigating and operating in a dynamic and unstructured home environment.
Despite the challenges, companies like Hello Robot and Matic continue to work on building the foundations for future home robots. These systems focus on mapping, manipulation, and navigation.
Social home robots have faced difficulties in the market. Anki, Kuri, Jino, and Amazon’s Astro all struggled due to factors like high prices, limited functionality, and reliability issues. Even Amazon, a large company, faced setbacks with Astro and had to downsize its consumer hardware division. This serves as a reminder that success in the home robot category is not guaranteed, regardless of a company’s size.
Apple’s reported foray into home robots with a tablet-like device mounted on an arm seems more aligned with their strengths and ambitions. However, the success of such projects remains uncertain.
While home robots are on the horizon, they still have a long way to go before they become mainstream. In the meantime, there is time for further development and improvement.