Robotics

Zoox Corporate Office

Zoox is an autonomous vehicle company founded in 2014 by Tim Kentley-Klay and Jesse Levinson.

The company has created a completely new type of autonomous vehicle that is designed to operate as a taxi service. Rather than a unique vehicle, the company can retrofit older models. Zoox has applied the latest techniques in automotive, robotics and renewable energy to build a symmetrical, bi-directional battery-electric vehicle

In June 2020, Amazon purchased Zoox for $1.3 billion. Two shareholders have sued Zoox in August 2020, stating that there were better offers on the table that would have benefitted shareholders.

Even some employees of Zoox were not happy about the sale, threatening to quit.

Zoox released a video of its car in action, maneuvering through heavy downtown San Francisco traffic in April 2020.

Zoox maintains a corporate office in Foster City, California.

Trifo Corporate Office

Zhe Zhang founded Trifo in 2016. Trifo is a full-stack AI home robot company. In addition to home robotics, the company has been developing an end-to-end integrated hardware/software system with sensing, perception, and decision capabilities.

Trifo is best known for its super-advanced robotic vacuum named Lucy. More than just a vacuum, Lucy comes with a wifi-enabled camera that can see objects as small as 1 inch off the floor, which allows her to avoid socks or pet accidents, as well as being able to check on pets or family members in other rooms and sending you live video.

Trifo holds more than 50 Chinese and US patents. The Max or Lucy vacuums can be linked with Alexa or Google Home systems.

The company says that it intends to release a home robot at the end of 2020 individual healthcare management, home environment understanding and monitoring, and entertainment services.

“Revenue for smart home products globally will grow to $28.4 billion in 2020, up 54% from $18.5 billion in 2018, and the feature set of these devices continues to improve,” said Zhe Zhang, Trifo’s Founder and CEO

While iRobot’s Roomba has long been the standard for robotic vacuums, but the market for these automated devices is expected to grow to $4.34 billion by 2023, increasing the competition for Roomba substantially.

Trifo maintains its USA corporate office in Santa Clara, California.

IBM Corporate Office

IBM can trace its roots back to 1911 when Charles Ranlett Flint merged 3 separate technology companies to form the Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR).

In 1924, the company was renamed to International Business Machines Corporation or IBM for short.

In 1952, Thomas J. Watson, Jr. succeeded his father as CEO of IBM.

In 1956, a computer was programmed to play checkers and learn from previous games. This is the first example of artificial intelligence.

In 1963, IBM headquarters was moved from NYC to Armonk, NY where it remains today.

In 1974, IBM engineer George Laurer developed the Universal Product Code or UPC system.

In 2005, IBM sold its personal computer business to Lenovo.

Today, IBM is one of the largest technology and consulting companies worldwide. The company has received the most accepted patents annually for the past 20 years.

iRobot Corporate Office

iRobot was founded in 1990 by MIT Artificial Lab group members Rodney Brooks, current CEO Colin Angle, and Helen Greiner.

In 1998, the company received a research grant from DARPA which led to the creation of the PackBot.

In 2002, the company released their most popular home robot, the Roomba.

In 2005, the company went public on the NYSE.

In 2012, the company acquired Evolution Robotics, maker of the Mint floor mop robot.

The company also makes automatic swimming pool cleaners and floor mopping robots.

In October 2018, stock for the company fell 11.2% after the company announced that President Trump’s tariffs would hurt the company and cause them to increase prices.

Today, iRobot has sold over 8 million home robots. They have also deployed over 5,000 defense and security robots for military use.

In January 2020, the company announced that it was working on a Roomba version that had arms and how this could be used for consumer and commercial needs.

Also in January 2020, iRobot announced that it was taking its WiFi enabled Roomba’s to the next level by allowing them to interact with other smart-enabled home applicances and devices.

Company headquarters are located in Bedford, Massachusetts.