Dancing with Roomba: Cracking the Robot Riddle and Building an Icon

by Joseph L. Jones

Overview

Dancing with Roomba tells the unexpected story of the world’s favorite robot. 

For five decades, corporations spent millions pursuing a floor cleaning robot.  Legions of engineers toiled, dozens of patents issued, yet every effort failed.  Then came Roomba.  Selling nearly 50 million units since its launch, Roomba’s unlikely success sprang from a breakthrough at an MIT robotics lab, an inventor who persevered through years of setbacks, and an inspired team that worked as one to smash every problem.  The book provides a rare view behind the scenes, revealing how a revolutionary product came to be, how it works, and how a tiny company was able to best a crowd of corporate giants. 

Written in an easy, narrative style, Dancing with Roomba is accessible to all.  Anyone who owns a Roomba, works in technology, dreams of building a product, or is just curious about the robot that launched a million memes will find much to love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781032890616
Publisher:	CRC Press
Publication date:	10/22/2025
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.12(w) x 9.19(h) x (d)

About the Author

Joseph L. Jones, a lifelong tinkerer and inventor, focuses on the practical application of robotic technology to real-world problems. In that pursuit he co-founded Tertill Corporation, a manufacturer of robots that weed home gardens, and Harvest Automation, Inc., a company that builds autonomous robots for the nursery and greenhouse industry. At both firms he served as CTO. Earlier, as senior roboticist, he spearheaded the development of Roomba, the world’s first successful home floor cleaning robot. A graduate of MIT, he is author of three earlier books on robotics and holds over 80 US and several international patents.

Table of Contents

1. Robot Vacuum Dreamin’ 2. Passion, Desire, and Robot Programming 3. Unfinished Symphonies  4. Power  5. Late Bloomer  6. My Real Baby and Clean  7. Coverage  8. Forging a New Machine’s Soul  9. Tango?  10. Trilobite  11. Base Camp 12. Children of Necessity  13. Reality Bites  14. Hour Eleven  15. Um, Actually…  16. Robot Replication 17. Shock and Awfulness  18. Pepsi to Pop  19. Epilogue

 

Editorial Reviews

"Dancing with Roomba is a front row seat to the very human story of how Roomba came to revolutionize home cleaning. The book offers a model for how real innovation happens - changing the world requires a small focused team ready to endure a messy grind of overcoming skepticism and constant failure."

Eric Paley, Managing Partner, Founder Collective

“I had the pleasure of serving as President of iRobot when Roomba was conceived, developed, and brought to market. I can attest firsthand to the dedication, extreme hard work, and brilliance of the core design team.  Borrowing from noted Anthropologist Margeret Mead's famous quote, I believe that ‘a small group of thoughtful and committed engineers and scientists can revolutionize industries; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.’ This book can serve as a great resource for those who want to bring a true innovation to market, a fun read for those who love Roomba, or just a great story about a hardworking little vacuuming robot.”

Helen Greiner, Co-founder of iRobot and serial entrepreneur

“Dancing with Roomba offers an awe-inspiring glimpse into the birth of consumer robotics. A must-read for anyone fascinated by the rise of intelligent machines in our daily lives.”

Daniel H. Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Robopocalypse

“I love this book, couldn’t wait to get to the next wisecrack or the next disaster for this scrappy team of 7, who pulled off a miracle after so many others had failed. There’s wisdom here, along with a good yarn, ending in a SNL skit.”

John Mather, Nobel Prize winner, physics 2006

“Joe Jones has written The Soul of a New Machine for robotics, providing insight into the long process of bringing the first commercially successful home robot, the iRobot Roomba, to market.”

Holly Yanco, Professor of Computer Science, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Director of the NERVE Center

“Dancing with Roomba is a rare window into the messy, emotional, and deeply human process of innovation. This standout story is a masterclass in creative problem-solving and principled design… Technical readers will appreciate the engineering details; general readers will be drawn in by the wit and storytelling. A must-read for product innovators.”

Jeanne Lim is the founder and CEO of beingAI, co-creator of Sophia the Robot as former CEO of Hanson Robotics, committed to advancing humanistic AI for social good.

From the Publisher