“Watching the original “Star Wars” movie as a mathematically inclined 11-year-old, Helen Greiner dreamed of someday creating a robot like the heroic R2-D2.

After enduring plenty of lean years chasing that elusive vision as a co-founder of iRobot Corp., Greiner can now boast a product that whirs and chirps much like the character she to this day calls her “personal hero.”

The Roomba vacuum cleaner may be incapable of fixing an X-wing fighter like Luke Skywalker’s trusty droid, but some 1.2 million of the disc-shaped robotic housekeepers have been sold in 25 countries in the past 2 1/2 years.

For the 37-year-old Greiner, the success of the Roomba and of iRobot’s military machines validates the transformation of robots from the stuff of fantasy to practical tools.”

[Continue reading iRobot Co-Founder's Perseverance Now Pays Off]