The U.S. company iRobot is a global leader in developing service robots. It has applied robots technologies towards commercial and civil use successfully owing to its good entrepreneurial environment, sophisticated achievement transfer system, and strong technology accumulation. On the other hand, supports from the government ensure survival and development of iRobot. The paper highlights the development and experience of iRobot, and analyzes features and supporting conditions of innovation of U.S. service robot industry, and gives some insights as follows:The development of emerging technology industry with long-time high uncertainty is a very complex process. It needs effective integration of resources from government, enterprises and research institutes. The government should provide a dual-support from both the R&D investment and market demands to push the integration of advanced technology and the practical needs. For the enterprises, choosing right breakthrough points of product ideas and market share is the most important.%通过对全球服务机器人领军企业 iRobot 发展情况和相关经验的梳理，研究分析了美国服务机器人产业创新的特征和支撑条件。iRobot具有良好的创业氛围、成果转化机制和坚实的技术积累，其创业和管理团队结构合理、资源整合力强；iRobot推进机器人技术民用产业化成功的关键是适宜的产品战略；此外，政府的支持保证了iRobot的生存和发展。iRobot发展的经验带给我们的启示是：具有长期高度不确定性的新兴技术产业发展是一个复杂的过程，需要实现对政府、企业和科研院所等资源的有效整合，需要政府提供科研投入和应用市场的双重支持，需要促进先进技术与现实需求的结合，而企业的创意设计和对市场切入口的选择至关重要。
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