The Most Important People Working In Robotics Today

For every great robotic creation that comes to "life," whether it's a bot that folds your laundry or simply an academic paper that fleshes out a great idea, there is a small army of roboticists that helped make it possible.

We asked around the robotics community to assemble this list of the 15 most important people working in robotics today, and the list includes everyone from academics doing high theoretical work to entrepreneurs ready to sell you the next - or first - robot for your home.

We're still quite a bit away from seeing a "Jetsons"-style Rosie cleaning up our messes and doing our housework for us, but here are some of the most important people working in the field today to perhaps make that a reality.