iRobot

iRobot Looj will clean your gutters

The company that dispatches robots to clean your floors now wants to scour America's gutters.

Next up from iRobot is a gutter-cleaning machine, according to recently filed photos, diagrams and documents that were discovered by Engadget on an FCC Web site.

The new robot is called the Looj, according to a confidentiality request filed on August 28, which seems to have been granted on August 29.

All the photos and diagrams on the Federal Communications Commission site have been made confidential until October 13, but not before Engadget was able to snag one diagram and one photo of the Looj.… Read more

iRobot suing for PackBot patent infringement

Robotics company iRobot announced Monday that it has filed two lawsuits concerning its PackBot military robot and former employee Jameel Ahed, the founder and president of Robotic FX.

Ahed's Illinois-based company sells the Negotiator, a tactical surveillance robot that has been purchased by Illinois state police.

Robotic FX's Negotiator is "a knock-off version of the combat-proven iRobot PackBot robot," said an iRobot statement on the matter.

"We are currently reviewing our legal options and intend to aggressively defend our position," Ahed said in an e-mailed statement.

"Robotic FX sold its first Negotiator Tactical … Read more

Taser links up with iRobot for stunning new products

Taser International, the people who make the stun guns, and iRobot have kicked off a collaboration to develop machines for the military and police agencies that ideally will incapacitate, but not kill, suspects.

Thus, instead of sending a rookie cop into a strip club to break up a fight between a bouncer and a coked-up drummer from a heavy-metal band, the robot can do it for him.

And think of the improvements in crowd control you could achieve at those messy Greenpeace rallies.

The two companies have already integrated a Taser X26 stun gun--also known as "an electronic control … Read more

iRobot: New home bots for the holidays

BOSTON, MASS.--She wouldn't say what, but she did say when.

At an info session on iRobot at the JPMorgan Technology Conference here Monday, co-founder and chairman of iRobot, Helen Greiner, said the company plans to launch two new consumer robots.

"I'm not going to play 20 questions with you...We want to have a real launch of any product we put out," said Greiner in response to several analysts' questions, which included things like "Will it have an arm?"

"We are going to launch them from our Web space, and they are … Read more

iRobot and Boeing to collaborate on robot

iRobot pretty much has both ends of the robot spectrum covered: cute, household cleaning robots and industrial-strength military robots. Monday's announcement that iRobot and Boeing will team up on a military/civilian/commercial robot falls somewhere in the middle.

The Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle, nicknamed SUGV Early, will weigh less than 30 pounds. That's smaller than iRobot's line of robots currently in use in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts to search buildings, caves and tunnels and disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

The SUGV Early will perform reconaissance and gather intelligence while operators stand out of harm's … Read more

iRobot turns vacuum into bottom feeder

If the "Scooba" went on a massive steroid binge, it might turn out as something like this. iRobot has taken its famed vacuuming skills under water, totally submerging a new line for the swimming pool.

The "Verro" pool-cleaning bots come in two models that patrol the floor and climb walls to the waterline in 60 to 90 minutes It also uses artificial intelligence to avoid crashing into sunken tiki gods or pirate ships.

The Verros don't come cheap, at $800 and $1,200, but that may be a small price to pay to get rid … Read more

Set it and forget it

While cleaning my house over the weekend, I thought of something that I should have put on my wish list: the iRobot Roomba! I have a big furry dog so I need to vacuum pretty often if I don't want to see dog hair flying around whenever the heater is running. With the Roomba, I can just turn it on and leave it, and spend my precious time doing other things. I have heard good things about the Roomba, and a lot of people swear by it. Added bonus, my dog might even enjoy chasing it around the house.