当婴儿用品遇到高端机器人技术

    亨利•索恩曾负责编程控制笨重的机器人，以焊接通用汽车（General Motors）装配线上的别克（Buick）君威（Regals），庞蒂克（Pontiac）Grand Prixs和雪佛兰（Chevy）Cutlass Supremes的框架。距底特律6英里有一个火花四溅的汽车研发工厂，而他就曾经是它的核心智囊之一，而那里已成为底特律自动化技术的象征。

    现年53岁的索恩开始为更小的、搭载更可爱“货物”的车辆设计机器人。他是全球唯一一款自动折叠婴儿车Origami的设计领袖。由匹兹堡的4Moms公司设计的Origami拥有按钮式的折叠和展开装置，车身配备了遥控灯光、手机充电器、里程表、液晶仪表盘、轮子上的自动充电发电机和其他一些特色装置，专为某些家长量身打造。他们不介意花上800美元，购买这辆配备齐全的婴儿车。

    4Moms是机器人婴儿产品的先驱，目前市场上也没有模仿Origami婴儿车的其他产品。芝加哥的儿童用品评论网站Baby Gizmo的创始人和CEO霍莉•舒尔茨说：“在机器人婴儿产品上，他们已经完全占领了市场。”

    索恩的机器人技术帮助4Moms成功打入估值80亿美元的美国婴儿用品市场。公司2011年销售额达到近1.7亿美元，产品摆上了塔吉特（Target）、诺德斯特姆（Nordstrom）和Babies 'R Us的货架。他们的产品与明星珍妮弗•加纳、考特尼•卡戴珊和埃尔顿•约翰的孩子们一同出镜。4Moms的成功也吸引了许多新的投资者，包括波士顿的贝恩资本风险投资公司（Bain Capital Ventures）近期也对其投资了2000万美元。

    除去Origami之外，这家拥有67名员工的公司的杰作还包括：机器人驱动、模仿人类父母动作的婴儿座椅mamaRoo；能控制水温，让清洁的水持续流动的Cleanwater婴儿澡盆；还有能一步到位，打开或折叠的婴儿床Breeze。

    从汽车装配线到Babies 'R Us，这是一条漫长的路，但对于索恩来说这是情理之中的进步。他说：“这些微型机器人比起装配线上的机器人要复杂得多。”

    体积是索恩和4Moms设计中的主要瓶颈。所有的电子设备和软件都需要装进一个小球中，并巧妙地安置在Origami的座椅下面。索恩说：“如果这个球比现在的大一倍，那就没人会买了。这个产品就从了不起的杰作降格为丑陋粗劣的次品。”

    由父所创，为母所用？

    4Moms有个充满母性的名字，不过它却出自两位父亲之手——索恩有两个孩子，分别是20岁和22岁；而另一位创始人42岁的罗伯特•戴利也有10岁和6岁的孩子。2005年创建公司之后，他们俩与戴利的妻子简和她的朋友组成了焦点小组，讨论颜色、构思和其他特色，之后就有了4Moms。

    Henry Thorne once programmed hulking robots to weld the frames of Buick Regals, Pontiac Grand Prixs, and Chevy Cutlass Supremes on a General Motors (GM) assembly line. He was one of the key brains behind a six-mile, spark-throwing spectacle that became a symbol of Detroit automation.

    Today, Thorne, 53, designs robots for much smaller vehicles that carry much cuter cargo. He's the engineering brains behind the Origami, the world's only power-folding stroller.

    Created by the Pittsburgh-based firm 4Moms, the Origami has a push-button folding and unfolding mechanism, remote-control lights, a cell phone charger, a speedometer, an LCD dashboard, self-charging generators in its wheels, and other features for parents who don't mind dropping a cool $800 on a fully loaded model.

    4Moms is a pioneer when it comes to robotic baby products, with no imitations of the Origami stroller currently out on the market. "They own the market when it comes to robotics in baby gear," says Hollie Schultz, founder and CEO of Baby Gizmo, a Chicago-based baby products review site.

    Thorne's robotics expertise has helped turn 4Moms into a player in the estimated $8 billion U.S. baby products industry. The company posted sales of almost $17 million in 2011 and placed its products on the shelves of Target (TGT), Nordstrom (JWN), and Babies 'R Us. The babies of Jennifer Garner, Courtney Kardashian, and Elton John have been photographed with their products. 4Moms' success also has attracted new investors, including a recent $20 million infusion from Bain Capital Ventures of Boston.

    In addition to the Origami, the 67-employee company also makes the robot-propelled mamaRoo, an infant seat that mimics human parents' movements; the Cleanwater Infant Tub, which controls temperature and circulates clean water continually; and the Breeze, a playard that opens or folds in a single step.

    It's a long way from the automotive assembly line to Babies 'R Us, but it's a logical progression to Thorne. "These mini-robots are more complex than the robots used in assembly lines," he says.

    Scale is a major design constraint for Thorne and 4Moms. All electronics and software had to be streamlined into a small ball that fit neatly below the Origami's seat. "If the ball were twice as big, no one would buy it," Thorne says. "It would go from awesome to ugly and inelegant."

    For moms, by dads?

    Despite its maternal name, 4Moms' products are actually the invention of two dads -- Thorne has two children, aged 20 and 22, while his co-founder Robert Daley, 42, has a 10-year-old and a 6-year-old. After starting their company in 2005, the partners held focus groups with Daley's wife Jenn and her friends to discuss colors, design, and other features; hence the name 4Moms.