Publications

October 2019 (Revised March 2021)
Background Note

Modern Automation (B): Robotics

By: William R. Kerr and James Palano

Driven largely by advances in perception and situational awareness, robots in the 2010s were gaining functionality that allowed them to be applied to fundamentally new types of work. The expanding range of new tasks that could be completed by machines had significant... View Details

Keywords: Robotics; Artificial Intelligence; Future Of Work; Technology Commercialization; Information Technology; Commercialization; Employment; AI and Machine Learning

01 Mar 2006
News

Robots to the Rescue

and pack it for shipment. But Mountz has a better idea. As founder and CEO of Kiva Systems based in Woburn, Massachusetts, he has developed a fulfillment system that relies on robotic vehicles to locate and deliver merchandise to human... View Details

Keywords: robotics; Architectural, Engineering, and Related Services; Professional Services

20 Mar 2012
News

Robotics Warehouse Company Now Part of Amazon

Keywords: robots; robotics; warehouse; Clothing and Clothing Accessories Stores; Retail Trade; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

21 Jun 2014
News

Consumer Robotics Is Finally Ready For Prime Time

Keywords: robotics; Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing; Manufacturing

Video

Dexai Robotics

01 Mar 2012
News

Robots to the Rescue

Mountz Photo courtesy Kiva Systems Kiva's robots in action Main article: Where Innovation Rules In the News: Boston Globe: Amazon Buys Kiva for $775M Those who know Mick Mountz (MBA 1996) well were not overly surprised when he started a... View Details

Keywords: Deborah Blagg; e-commerce; order fulfillment; robotics; Management of Companies and Enterprises; Management; Miscellaneous Store Retailers; Retail Trade

2024
Article

A Universal In-Place Reconfiguration Algorithm for Sliding Cube-Shaped Robots in Quadratic Time

By: Zachary Abel, Hugo A. Akitaya, Scott Duke Kominers, Matias Korman and Frederick Stock

In the modular robot reconfiguration problem we are given n cube-shaped modules (or "robots") as well as two configurations, i.e., placements of the n modules so that their union is face-connected. The goal is to find a sequence of moves that reconfigures the modules... View Details

Keywords: Robots; Mathematical Methods

Read Now

25 Sep 2018
News

Esquel Group Looks to a Robotic Future

Keywords: international trade; robotics; manufacturing; supply chain; innovation; Apparel Manufacturing; Manufacturing

October 2001 (Revised March 2002)
Case

Bluefin Robotics

By: Joseph B. Lassiter III and David Kiron

Concentrates on the consequences of the choice of corporate partners on the growth alternatives available to a new company, in a new industry, based on a new technology. View Details

Keywords: Business Startups; Partners and Partnerships; Markets; Growth and Development Strategy; Technological Innovation

Find at Harvard

17 Nov 2017
HBS Seminar

Seminar on Robotics

29 Oct 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Robots in the Boardroom

Steamships, electricity, the railroad, airplanes, the internet—technology and business have always been intertwined. Now a new tech revolution is pushing forward as organizations figure out how to use artificial intelligence to help them make faster, smarter, and more... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

January 1983 (Revised August 1988)
Case

Universal Robotics Corp.

Three former classmates are founding a company to design, develop, manufacture, and market industrial robots. Principal issues involve the sources, amount, and form of outside investment, the allocation of equity, and the terms and conditions under which outside funds... View Details

Keywords: Technology; Business Startups; Corporate Finance; Manufacturing Industry; Technology Industry

April 1986 (Revised July 1996)
Supplement

Glossary for Universal Robotics

By: Howard H. Stevenson

Find at Harvard

05 Jan 2016
News

Time to Talk Robots

01 Jun 2014
News

How to Make Robots Seem Less Creepy

January 2023 (Revised April 2023)
Case

Cobalt Robotics: Scaling Workplace Robotics

By: Jeffrey F. Rayport, Nicole Tempest Keller and Kyung Keun Park

Founded in 2016, Cobalt Robotics, based in Fremont, California, was a Robot-as-a-Service (RaaS) company that built autonomous workplace robots that were designed to replace or supplement human security guards. Outfitted with over 60 sensors, Cobalt robots patrolled... View Details

Keywords: Information Infrastructure; Disruptive Innovation; Innovation and Invention; Marketing Strategy; Marketing Channels; Customers; Technology Industry; United States; California

28 Sep 2023
News

Robots Need People, Too

August 2001 (Revised October 2005)
Case

Sony AIBO: The World's First Entertainment Robot

By: Youngme E. Moon

The Sony AIBO is the world's first "entertainment" robot. Positioned as a household "companion," the $1,500 AIBO has become a smash hit in Japan, appealing to both the young and the old, including those with little technical expertise. In the United States, the AIBO is... View Details

Keywords: Experience and Expertise; Entertainment; Innovation Strategy; Leadership; Marketing Strategy; Technology; Technology Industry; Japan; United States