Dr. Rodney Brooks is a pioneering roboticist and computer scientist whose work has fundamentally reshaped the robotics industry and brought autonomous robots into mainstream use. He currently serves as Cofounder and Chief Technology Officer of Robust.AI, a company dedicated to developing cognitive engines for intelligent collaborative robots. Previously, he was the Panasonic Professor of Robotics (emeritus) at MIT, where he served as Director of the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory and later the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory from 1997 to 2007. Born in Adelaide, Australia in 1954, he earned his undergraduate degrees in pure mathematics from Flinders University and completed his PhD in Computer Science at Stanford University in 1981 before joining the MIT faculty in 1984.
Dr. Brooks revolutionized robotics with his pragmatic approach to creating practical autonomous systems, co-founding iRobot Corporation in 1991 which brought the Roomba vacuum cleaner into millions of homes worldwide and developed the PackBot military robot used in Iraq and Afghanistan. His research spans computer vision, robot navigation, micro-actuators, planetary exploration and human-robot collaboration, with his influential essays collected in Cambrian Intelligence: The Early History of the New AI challenging traditional AI approaches. Later, he founded Rethink Robotics to develop collaborative manufacturing robots like Baxter and Sawyer that could safely work alongside humans, introducing new paradigms for industrial automation. His work has been instrumental in shifting robotics from theoretical academic research to practical applications that solve real-world problems across domestic, military and industrial domains.
As a thought leader in the field, Dr. Brooks has mentored generations of roboticists and AI researchers during his tenure at MIT, with many of his students becoming leaders in academia and industry. His extensive publications and accessible writing have shaped the discourse around robotics and AI, making complex technical concepts understandable to broader audiences while thoughtfully considering the implications of robotics for humanity. Currently focused on Robust.AI's mission to advance cognitive capabilities in collaborative robots, he continues to influence the direction of robotics research and commercialization. Recognized with numerous prestigious awards including the Computers and Thought Award, IEEE Inaba Technical Award and Engelberger Robotics Award, his legacy as one of the most influential roboticists of our time continues to grow as autonomous systems become increasingly integrated into everyday life.
