I didn’t ask iRobot CEO Colin Angle whether he was an Arrested Development fan when I interviewed him at his office week before last, but if you’re a fan you’ll recognize the image to the left.

Whether or not the company likes the association of its Roomba vacuum robot – the latest version of which launched yesterday – with Buster Bluth, the connection captures one of the most important legacies of iRobot.

Roomba may be the most important robot of all time simply because it’s likely that no robot has done as much to change how the public conceives of robotics, as evidenced by its amusing role as Buster’s pet/friend/lover.

While Angle might not cite Arrested Development, he clearly takes pride in how his company has impacted public perception.

“Robotics is an industry which has been hyped for decades,” he told me. The thing that iRobot has done is demonstrated first that you don’t have to be Commander Data with legs and arms in order to be a robot, that the world can benefit from robots that are designed from the first day around solving a valuable task and doing that very well.”

Other than being a huge business success, that’s what Roomba has accomplished, and it’s no minor feat.

“This idea of redefining the robot,” Angle continued, “if I’ve done nothing else at iRobot I can hopefully feel good about that one – that needed to happen for there to be a robot industry.”