iRobot

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This article is about the robot company. For other uses, see I, Robot (disambiguation).
iRobot Corporation
Type Public (NASDAQ: IRBT)
Founded 1990
Founder Rodney Brooks, Colin Angle and Helen Greiner
Headquarters Burlington, Massachusetts
Key people Rodney Brooks, Founder/CTO
Colin Angle, Founder/CEO
Helen Greiner, Founder/Chairman
Industry Robots
Products Domestic robots
Military robots
Revenue ▲ 188.96 Million USD (2006)
Operating income ▲ 40 Thousand USD (2006)
Net income ▲ 3.56 Million USD (2006)
Employees 371 (2006)
Website www.iRobot.com
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The iRobot Corporation designs robots such an autonomous home vacuum cleaner (Roomba), the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and PackBots for military and police use. iRobot was founded by Rodney Brooks, Colin Angle and Helen Greiner after working in MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab. iRobot is a public corporation (NASDAQ: IRBT), based in Burlington, Massachusetts.

Contents

[edit] History

iRobot was founded in 1991 and in 2000 it was incorporated in Delaware. The company was unprofitable every year from its inception through 2003.[1]

[edit] Home robots

[edit] My Real Baby

My Real Baby was a robotic toy marketed by iRobot from 2000 and produced in partnership with the toy manufacturer Hasbro. It is no longer in production. This product, which was meant to look like a human infant, employed animatronic facial expressions and was developed from an emotionally expressive and responsive robot developed by iRobot corporation called "IT."

[edit] Roomba

Main article: Roomba

Roomba is an automated vacuum cleaning robot, was released in 2000; by 2006, 2 million appliances were sold. Other producers have entered the market with competing automatic vacuum cleaners, including Sharper Image's eVac and the Cleanmate by Metapo, but they have not matched the Roomba's sales figures. Several versions of the Roomba have been developed, but battery life seems to have been a problem.citation needed

[edit] Scooba

Main article: Scooba

Scooba is iRobot's floor washing robot, was released in May 2005. The product became commercially available in limited quantities in late 2005, before a full product release in 2006, although it still is not available in many overseas markets. This product requires either a special non-bleach cleaning solution made by Clorox Corp., or vinegar to wash hard floors. Several version of varying power and range have been marketed.

[edit] Dirt Dog

Main article: iRobot Dirt Dog

Dirt Dog is designed for shop floor use, was released in 2006. This product picks up small objects such as nuts, bolts, dirt, and debris from the shop floor. The unit can be used on hard floors, shop carpets and industrial floor surfaces.[1]

[edit] Create

Main article: iRobot Create

Create is a hobby robot, was released in 2007. The iRobot Create Programmable Robot is a programmable robot that offers buyers the possibility of changing or adapting the robot's functions through experimentation with basic elements of robotics, as well as by adding sensors, grippers, wireless connections, computers, or other hardware. For more info go to the iRobot Create page.

[edit] Verro

Main article: Verro

Verro is a swimming-pool cleaning robot, released in April 2007. [2]

[edit] ConnectR

Main article: ConnectR

ConnectR is a robotic device that allows one to see, hear, and interact with people, pets, and sites from anywhere in the world.

[edit] Looj

Main article: Looj

Looj is a gutter-cleaning robot, was released in September 2007.

[edit] Research and military robots

A PackBot Scout robot shown with its second pair of treads in the horizontal position. This robot is conducting search and rescue at ground zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
A PackBot Scout robot shown with its second pair of treads in the horizontal position. This robot is conducting search and rescue at ground zero after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

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 extraordinary 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 chassis. The exterior consists flat aluminum plates, bent at the front and back, which are attached to the chassis 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 infrared. The center-front compartment holds a video camera and an infrared 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 chassis 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[3]), is a 250 lb (110 kg) 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.[4]
  • R-Gator, 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.[5][6]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ iRobot - iRobot Dirt Dog Shop Sweeping Robot
  2. ^ iRobot Verro Pool Cleaning Robot
  3. ^ Attack of the iRobot
  4. ^ iRobot Warrior: If Your House is Really, Really Dirty
  5. ^ http://www.deere.com/en_US/contractsales/fedmilitarysales/media/pdf/R-Gator_Brochure.pdf
  6. ^ R-Gator unmanned military ground vehicle unveiled

[edit] External links