Colin Angle has a bold vision for his army of floor-cleaning robots, like the Roomba, one that goes far beyond scrubbing the carpets: He wants them to connect all the “smart devices’’ that could soon be installed in your home.

The iRobot chief executive outlined his goals at an Internet of Things conference in Boston hosted by Needham software firm PTC last week. (Other keynote speakers included Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter, PTC chief executive Jim Heppelmann, and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.)

During an interview after his speech, Angle says he considers the robots as “being the glue that ties this all together.’’ By “this,’’ Angle means the lights, music, TVs, and thermostats that could turn on and off without flicking a switch.

Within several years, Angle says one of his robots could soon act like a remote control for all these various devices.

The latest Roomba can map every corner of a home on its own and has an installed camera to help it find its way. The mapping function helps the robot avoid places it’s already been — and to head to the charger when it’s out of juice. But Angle says his robots could use this technology to find light fixtures or speakers, for example, and add them to the digital map so they can work together as a consumer moves about the home.

Angle says connected devices can be tough for consumers to program, and most people don’t have the time to figure them out or the money to hire someone. One of his robots, Angle says, could soon do the job.

“It’s the only way to cheaply capture the spatial context required to make all of these connected things do the right thing,’’ Angle says. “It’s a really exciting time for us.’’ —JON CHESTO

Bill Cummings, unleashed

Bill Cummings is an apolitical billionaire.

The 79-year-old founder of Woburn-based Cummings Properties typically registers independent, doesn’t campaign for candidates, and rarely makes political contributions.

But lately he’s been railing publicly against a man he considers a threat to the country: Donald Trump.

In last month’s commencement address at Endicott College, Cummings denounced the “hateful anti-immigrant, anti-Hispanic, anti-gay’’ discourse that he says Trump fuels, likening it to “the same plague that spread through Nazi Germany in the 1930s.’’

At an event last week held by his charitable Cummings Foundation, he urged people to “stand up to those who would use Adolf Hitler as their coach.’’

He delivered a similar recent message at Catholic Charities, and he says he’ll do the same at the Lappin Foundation in Salem this summer.

Cummings hasn’t been mentioning Trump by name. But he doesn’t equivocate when asked if he’s referring to the presumptive nominee: “Yes.’’

“A long time ago, in my childhood, I remember Mein Kampf, and what Trump is doing is what that book did: motivate the disaffected,’’ Cummings said. “But I think that makes many people overlook so much that is so good about America.

“I do think our political system in Washington is broken,’’ Cummings added, “but I can’t see letting somebody like Trump emerge as the answer.’’ — SACHA PFEIFFER

Cape Wind’s blow off

Who’s trying to kill Cape Wind?

Some probably thought the wind farm planned for Nantucket Sound was already done in by an inability to land crucial financing more than a year ago. But developer Jim Gordon doesn’t give up.

Gordon is pinning his hopes on a state energy bill that would prompt utilities to enter into contracts with offshore wind developers. But he was blindsided last month when, a version was drafted to preclude Cape Wind from competing. Last week, House leaders added language to block any offshore wind project within 10 miles of inhabited areas. That means you, Cape Wind.

Cape Wind came out swinging with a statement that accuses its old enemy, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, of thwarting what could be its last best hope for survival. Cape Wind pointed out that the Alliance hired Tom Finneran, the former House speaker-turned-lobbyist, just weeks before the bill was released by House Speaker Bob DeLeo’s team. DeLeo, of course, rose in the State House under Finneran’s guidance.

Finneran makes no secret that he talked to legislative leaders about the topic. They already understood, he says, that the deep-water options proposed by developers for areas further offshore are superior to the “horse-and-buggy’’ technology Cape Wind is looking to deploy. Cape Wind, he says, would also “mar a really very special, precious resource.’’ — JON CHESTO

Liberty Mutual’s Mattera signs off

If you want to know the details of an obscure rule in the state’s automobile insurance law or how the Clinton administration health care reform proposal in the 1990s could have impacted workers’ compensation insurance, Paul Mattera is the guy to ask.

For 30-some years, Mattera has headed Boston-based Liberty Mutual Insurance’s lobby shop, combining public policy and insurance.

Mattera, a former high school teacher turned lobbyist for one of the state’s few Fortune 100 companies, is retiring at the end of June. His send off at the Four Seasons Hotel this week drew former colleagues and current power brokers, including Governor Charlie Baker.

At Liberty Mutual, Mattera, 65, has been involved in many controversial insurance issues. He pushed for deregulation of the state’s auto insurance market. He spent hours trying to persuade DC lawmakers, including former Congressman Barney Frank, that after the financial crisis, insurance companies shouldn’t face the same regulations as US banks.

He also helped Liberty Mutual break into the Chinese market 15 years ago and grew the company’s lobbying group from two to 17 employees.

“It’s been a great ride,’’ Mattera said.

He will be replaced by Ed Kenealy. —DEIRDRE FERNANDES