The robotics pioneer who helped unleash the Roomba vacuum is now betting that you might one day replace your beloved dog or cat with a plush robot that follows you around your home and adapts to your daily habits. This kind of lifelike machine — powered by the latest artificial intelligence (AI) technology — would not have been possible when Angle co-founded iRobot in 1990 or launched the first Roomba in 2002. It's hardly the first effort to build a pet-like household robot. Japanese electronics giant Sony, ...