The Jetsons premiered on September 23, 1962. The first episode, titled “Rosie the Robot,” was a sort of origin story for the character, depicting how overworked Jane decides to hire a housekeeper. 62 years after its premiere, Rosie remains an important pop culture touchstone that showcases the unrealized potential of domestic robots.
That doesn't mean that robots won't be present in homes in 2024. iRobot says it has sold more than 50 million Roombas. But that's just a fraction of the total number of robot vacuums sold worldwide. Robot lawn mowers and pool cleaners are also popular, but their numbers pale in comparison to vacuum cleaners.
The reason that domestic robots haven't reached their potential is not because of a lack of consumer demand or because manufacturers aren't trying hard enough. The issues are more complex and nuanced than that, but ultimately it's a question of price, functionality, and effectiveness. Outside of the use cases mentioned above, current domestic robots either don't work or don't perform well enough. And building a robot that meets both criteria would be cost-prohibitive for those of us who can't afford our own island.
Vacuum cleaners are ideal for home robots
During his long tenure as CEO, iRobot co-founder Colin Angle would often say that he didn't become a successful roboticist until he was a vacuum cleaner salesman, a funny joke that speaks to a deeper part of the industry: Before the Roomba, the company experimented with everything from baby dolls to military equipment.
iRobot found success when it focused on a simple task: cleaning floors. Its early models are primitive by today's standards, but they got the job done well enough to justify their price. Next month not only marks the 62nd anniversary of Rosie's TV debut, but it also marks the 22nd anniversary of the Roomba, a robot vacuum that's old enough that you can legally buy a Sam Adams case for it.
Nearly a quarter century after Roomba was released, much of iRobot's research and development has gone into making its systems smarter, adding sensors, mapping, AI, and integrating with smart assistants. The company has invested in other robotics areas, like gutter cleaners, pool cleaners, and even a lawnmower that may never see the light of day, but none of them have been able to recapture the magic of Roomba.
Work-life balance
A few years ago, I was on a panel discussing robots. As the conversation ended and the Q&A began, a woman raised her hand front and center. She was talking enthusiastically about her billion-dollar idea for drones that could vacuum, dust surfaces, and even do laundry. I told her it was a great idea, and that once she saw it running, I'd gladly buy one.
In robotics, this is easier said than done. It's not that no one had come up with the concept of a drone that dusts furniture before her, it's just that no one had figured out how to build a reliable, robust drone at scale for a price that wouldn't cost more than my 30-year mortgage.
I remember when Tesla unveiled its robots through dancers in spandex onesies, and Elon Musk described a humanoid that would work all day in a factory and then pick up groceries and cook dinner on the way home. Musk has been in the public eye long enough to know exactly how much weight to place on his timeline.
Image credit: Tesla
Before we see fully functional robots like Rosie, simpler machines must pave the way. Robots have been used in manufacturing for decades, but they are built to do one task over and over again. The more complex the machine, the more it costs and the more things that can go wrong. Think of the number of times a Roomba has broken down and multiply it by the complexity of a humanoid.
Most experts agree that early domestic robots will be designed for a few simple tasks, such as social robots and robots to perform caregiving or household chores. For the time being, each robot will likely be designed with one or two functions in mind.
Laying the foundations for the robots of the future
There's a lot of frustration right now that home systems just aren't up to the mark when it comes to expectations, but what's often forgotten in these conversations is the amount of groundwork that's already been done: whoever is going to build the next great home robot isn't doing it in a vacuum.
Their success will build on previous domestic robots, as well as ongoing research. Before the first Roomba, navigating an unstructured, dynamic environment like a home would have seemed impossible to many. Again, the Roomba was a simple machine by today's standards, but it laid the foundation for what came next.
This is reflected in recent domestic robots. Take the Hello Robot. Design-wise, it's a fairly simple machine: an arm with a pole attached to a Roomba-like base. Its simplicity is also because it's a development platform rather than a product. But this system, and others like Matic's robot vacuum, still have the hard work of laying the groundwork: mapping, manipulation, navigation, and so on.
Antisocial Social Robot
2019 was a tough year for social home robots. Anki, Kuri, and Jino all failed in succession due to price, limited functionality, and reliability. More recently, Amazon's Astro has faltered, effectively languishing as Amazon's austerity measures have led to the elimination of a significant portion of the headcount in the company's consumer hardware division. Of course, if the $1,600 robot had been a big hit, the retail giant wouldn't have let it die quietly.
Amazon's struggles are a kind reminder that being one of the world's largest companies doesn't guarantee success in such a risky field.
The lukewarm response to Vision Pro makes one wonder if Apple is following a similar path with home robotics.
Recent reports have suggested that the group's first project may not be Amazon's Astro, but something similar to the Echo Show 10. The potential product has been described as a sort of arm-mounted iPad-like tablet. These are reports of early-stage projects and could go in a variety of directions, but as it stands, this seems in line with the company's robotic ambitions.
Domestic robots are on the way, but they've still got a long way to go. That said, Jane won't be bringing Rosie home until 2062, so there's still time.