IROBOT

:''This article is about the robot company. For other uses, see I, Robot (disambiguation). ''
The 'iRobot Corporation' is a public corporation (), based in Burlington, Massachusetts, that designs robots for businesses, homes, and the military. iRobot's best known products are the Roomba, an autonomous home vacuum cleaner, and the Scooba, a similar robot that scrubs and cleans hard floors. The company also makes a line of PackBots, robots for military use (such as with bomb squads and SWAT teams). The three iRobot founders – Rodney Brooks, Colin Angle and Helen Greiner – were inspired to found the company after working in MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. Rodney Brooks is the former director of the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.

Contents

History

Home robots

Research and military robots

See also

References

External links

History

iRobot was founded in 1991 and in 2000 it was incorporated in Delaware. The company lost money every year from its inception to 2003.

Home robots

★ ''My Real Baby'' was iRobot's first move into the toy business, released in 2000. This product is a highly realistic doll which uses animatronic facial expressions. The doll started out as an emotionally expressive and responsive robot called "IT." The finalized My Real Baby was produced in a partnership with Hasbro, but is no longer in production.

★ ''Roomba'', iRobot's vacuum cleaning robot, was released in 2002. Since Roomba's successful launch into the home robots market, other companies have launched their own automatic vacuum cleaners, including Sharper Image's eVac and the Cleanmate by Metapo. The company announced in May 2006 that it has sold 2 million Roombas, making it the most successful household robot of all time.

★ ''Scooba'', iRobot's floor washing robot, was released in May 2005. It is similar to the Roomba except that it uses water to clean hard floors and replaces mops and buckets. The product became commercially available in limited quantities in late 2005, before a full rollout in the first half of 2006. It still is not available in many overseas markets, and requires either a special non-bleach cleaning solution made by Clorox Corp., or vinegar. As of 2007, there are three versions of the Scooba: the New 380 ($499 USD) for large areas up to 850 sq, replacing the original is the 350 ($399 USD) for areas up to 500 sq. feet and the 5800 ($299 USD) for areas up to 250 sq. feet.^[1]

★ ''Dirt Dog'', a workshop robot, was released in 2006. It picks up small objects such as nuts, bolts, dirt, and other debris from the shop floor. The unit can be used on hard floors, shop carpets and industrial floor surfaces.^[2]

★ ''iRobot Create'', a hobby robot, was released in 2007. The iRobot Create Programmable Robot is a durable, reliable, fully assembled programmable robot with out-of-the-box operation. 10 built-in demos and 32 built-in sensors allow you to control Create and experiment with robotics. An open cargo bay and 25-pin expansion port allow you to add your own sensors, grippers, wireless connections, computers or other hardware. For more info go to the iRobot Create page.

★ ''Verro'', a swimming pool cleaning robot, released in April 2007.^[3]

Research and military robots

iRobot has an extensive line of robots designed for use in military or policing functions.

★ ''Genghis'' (1990) was iRobot's first robot. It was designed as a test platform for researchers. The robot is currently at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

★ ''Ariel'' (1996) is a crab-like robot designed to remove mines, both in and out of water.

★ ''Urbie'' (1997) was a proof of concept robot designed for urban environments. The platform was designed with two tank-like tracks so it could climb stairs. Urbie was field tested at Fort Benning, Georgia; and gifted to a local high school on indefinite loan in 2005. High school students at Columbus High School in Columbus, GA, reconditioned the robot and created a usage manual for future students to continue to benefit from Urbie's extroadinary list of talents. Photographs of Urbie at different events can be viewed at http://www.columbus2space.org/. Urbie is built around a light, machined aluminum chasis. The exterior consists flat aluminum plates, bent at the front and back, which are attached to the chasis with small hex screws. 2 DC motors power the forward rotating arms, while 2 slightly larger DC motors power the body length treads. From the outside, Urbie is an exact replica of the PackBot Scout. The front compartment holds 2 banks of LEDs, one white light, the other infared. The center-front compartment holds a video camera and an infared camera. Both cameras' images are transmitted back to a handheld LCD screen and remote control console via a single antenna. The image that is transmitted back is controlled by a mechanical switch, thrown remotely inside the chasis by a remote controlled actuator. The DC motors are controlled the same way that a remote control airplane or car are. The ability to reverse the tread direction on both sides gives the robot a 0 degree turn radius. In 2006, the exterior body was refinished, the antennas were repaired (replaced by a fishing pole) and some of the interior electronics were updated. The robot is simply constructed, with basic electronic controls, and is the same physical design as the current PackBots, it only lacks the digital processor.

★ ''PackBot Scout'' is a rugged military surveillance robot which is designed to be deployed by a single soldier to investigate areas which may be dangerous or inaccessible. Using a still camera, the robot beams images back to the controller. The robot has been used in both Iraq and Afghanistan. PackBot research is supported by DARPA.

★ ''PackBot Explorer'' is an advanced Scout with sound, live video feed and other sensors. The robot is designed for investigating hostage situations or surveying battle damage.

★ ''Swarm'' is an artificial intelligence research project designed to develop algorithms for swarms of hundreds of individual robots. This project is sponsored by DARPA.

★ ''Warrior'', currently in development (expected deployment in 2008^[4]), is a 250 lb machine that can travel up to 12 miles per hour through rough terrain and up and down stairs while carrying payloads weighing over 100 pounds. Its potential uses include bomb disposal, battlefield casualty extraction and firefighting.^[5]

★ ''RGator'', a product of a partnership with John Deere Corporation, is a small utility vehicle with a robotics package added. It is capable of autonomous operation including waypoint following with obstacle avoidance, following dismounted infantry and other vehicles and semi-autonomous operation such as teleoperation with obstacle avoidance. Vehicles are currently in production.

See also

★ Swarm intelligence

★ Artificial Intelligence

★ Robot

★ DARPA

★ Roomba

★ Scooba

References

1. http://store.irobot.com/family/index.jsp?categoryId=2174932&cp=2174940
2. http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2475131
3. iRobot Verro Pool Cleaning Robot
4. [1]
5. [2]

External links

★ Official website

★ Interview with Helen Greiner, the cofounder of iRobot

★ New York Times article about military robots including iRobot's packbot

★ iRobot on antisniper device

★ RoombaDevTools.com A comprehensive resource for hobbyists

★ Create-Info.Org - the Wiki for the iRobot Create™ Programmable Robot.