Evolution Robotics Tries to Swipe iRobot's Mojo!

This sounds like a rivalry is starting! Evolution Robotics has upped the ante on the iRobot Create contest, offering the winner of that contest a $30,000 robotics development system and a trip to Evolution's HQ in Pasadena, Calif.! Note that Evolution has already indicated its desire to compete with iRobot on home robotics!

Here is the press release:

PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--When Danh Trinh of Towson, Maryland was awarded $5,000 in iRobot’s Create Challenge Contest, he was naturally excited at the news. Danh had won the contest with his “Personal Home Robot” that performs impressive tasks around the home, such as taking care of plants, controlling appliances and interacting with people.

When the engineers at Evolution Robotics saw a video of Danh’s winning robot on YouTube, they got excited too. So much so, the company decided to top iRobot’s award with a professional robotics development system (which Evolution normally sells to large companies for $30,000 a pop) and a trip for Danh to visit the company’s headquarters in Pasadena, California.

Why did Evolution Robotics decide to make such a big deal of what Danh did? In his video Danh describes how his robot uses a special image processing program to visually scan around a room, indicate when it sees a specific plant, and help guide a remote operator to drive right up to the plant to water it. As Danh demonstrates how the vision program recognized the plant as well as visually determined its location and distance, the Evolution Robotics engineers recognized something as well, their company logo.

It turns out that Danh’s image processing program was developed by Evolution Robotics five years ago, when it was sold as part of a robot kit the company marketed to hobbyists, schools and universities. That program was powered by an early version of Evolution’s visual pattern recognition technology, now called ViPR®.

Since those early days, Evolution Robotics and its technologies have come a long way. ViPR is now embedded on over 2 million products and applied on everything from toys that see and interact with children to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) that guide their course based on vision. In Japan, ViPR enables mobile customers with NTT DoCoMo to use their camera phone for visual searches. As one example of the service, users can simply take a picture of a music CD they see in a store to do a live search for the album online and download reviews, ring tones and MP3 songs.

“Our focus has been to take breakthrough technologies like the vision system Danh used on his robot, and deliver them at unprecedented low costs so that they can be used in everyday consumer products,” said Paolo Pirjanian, President and CEO of Evolution Robotics. “We are now at the point where the vision system that Danh ran on a Pentium computer for his robot can now run as an embedded component for less than 1/100th the cost.”

Talk like that gets Danh excited. “My goal is to make the next generation personal robot. Something that can be smart and powerful enough to do really useful things in the home, but also affordable enough for people to own.” Danh, who spent 11 years developing and patenting embedded systems for the power tools industry, is no stranger to the challenges of designing high volume and cost sensitive consumer products. “I know how difficult it is to find a happy medium between the costs versus benefits of high volume designs, but the fact that Evolution has figured out how to shrink their sophisticated vision technology into a low-cost embedded system is very exciting news for people wanting to add vision into consumer products,” said Danh.

To support Danh’s vision, Evolution will provide him a full suite of their latest professional software and hardware development tools. These tools will include Evolution’s ERSP® software platform for developing robotic applications. The ERSP features the latest version of the ViPR vision system along with other advanced technologies for navigation, artificial intelligence and robotic control. Danh will also get a developer’s kit for NorthStar®, Evolution’s breakthrough low-cost solution for indoor navigation that will be going on a range of new consumer products in 2008 and 2009. Danh’s response, “Wow, with all the new stuff from Evolution, I feel like a contestant who has just won the big showcase showdown on the Price is Right!“

To get Danh up to speed on their latest systems and let him get a peek at the upcoming products, Evolution will be flying Danh out to their offices in California, located at the Idealab facility in Pasadena.

“For me this is better than winning a trip to Disneyland,” said Danh. “Plus I actually get to take home some very cool tools to play with.”

Individuals interested in experimenting with the same vision technology Danh used on his robot can access a free demo version of the software from Evolution Robotics at this link.

Tags: iRobot, robot, Evolution Robotics, robotics

Scooba 5800 selling out across the web

Thanks to discounting and holiday buying, the Scooba 5800 model has started selling out across the web. It's back-ordered at Linens 'N Things and sold out at Amazon. That should be a lesson to iRobot: The $199 Scooba price point is gold. My hunch is that the Scooba 5800 will be replaced early next year by the Scooba 335 next generation unit, which is being sold exclusively by the Home Shopping Network. I'm expecting iRobot to sell perhaps 50,000 Scoobas in the 4th Quarter, much more than they likely sold a year ago when they were working through an inventory overhand and initial quality issues with the now-discontinued Scooba 5900. Average revenue of $200 a unit would equal about $10 million. That's still a fraction of Roomba sales, but no slouch.

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

FurReal Friends Pony, FurReal My Lovin Pup HOT DEALS!

UPDATED 12/22/08 with BLOWOUT LAST MINUTE DEALS!
Amazon has the FurReal Friends Butterscotch Pony for just $205.99 Shipped with no tax to most states as part of the EXTENDED Amazon Holiday sale! That's almost $100 off! This hot robotic toy includes numerous sensors and reacts to your child's touch in numerous ways, and can be ridden by kids up to 80 pounds! Recommended for ages 4-10.

The Hasbro FurReal Friends Smores Pony HAS JUST SOLD OUT!

Also super-hot, the Fur Real Friends Biscuit My Lovin Pup is just $149 shipped in the Cyber Week sale! List is $199! The Lovin Pup is already the best-selling robotic dog!

Check out the rest of the Holiday Toy deals at Amazon!

Tags: Furreal, toys

iRobot may get $200 MILLION contract!

iRobot appears to be on the verge of getting an up to $200 million contract to service iRobot PackBots, according to this contracting notice. This contract is for service, parts, spares, training etc. Note that iRobot has said repeatedly that such contracts would contain higher profit margins than the sales of the robots themselves. The contract would be for two years with three one-year extensions possible.

iRobot's stock weakness of late seems entirely due to underlying economic concerns, but interest in iRobot's consumer products are rocketing higher, and they are on the verge of some big military contracts. If I had more free cash I'd be buying more!

BIG THANKS, Valueman!

Tags: iRobot, robot

Yahoo Reviews Scooba, gives Thumbs Up

Yahoo! Tech gave a very positive review to the Scooba 350. (Thanks, Micro)

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

Cheap Robomower! NOW $651 SHIPPED!!!!!

UPDATED!!!! Why wait for iRobot? Get the Robomower for $651 in our buyers' guide. This closeout deal will NOT last.

Tags: Robomower

Roomba 580 released by iRobot! New top-of-the line model

iRobot has released the New Roomba 580 top of the line vacuum robot for $499.99 with Free Shipping.
The principal difference between this model and the Roomba 570 is that the higher-end model features a large number of replacement brushes (11) and filters (7). It also includes a silver faceplate and a third Lighthouse Virtual Wall.

Thanks, JSRN!

Tags: iRobot, Roomba

Robotic FX wants Judge to weaken injunction

Xconomy reports on the latest begging from Robotic FX to iRobot Judge Nancy Gertner begging her to weaken her injunction. (I would have thought they would have appealed the injunction by now?)

Tags: iRobot, robot

HSN sells 7,000 Scoobas in One Day!

Scooba was HSN's pick of the day today, and sold more than 6,900 units at last check, according to the Home Shopping Network's TV counter. Links and coupons in the Scooba Buyers Guide.

The prices on Scooba are dropping, particularly on the 5800 model, but I think that could lead to significantly higher volumes in the long run. I think the $199 price point is HUGE for holiday sales.

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

Koreans Develop ConnectR/Roomba combo platter

A Korean company has developed a robotic vacuum cleaner that appears to double as a ConnectR-like device, and it is being pitched as sort of a security watchdog moreso than as a way to read to your kids, Korea Times reports. The new device will have motion sensors and can send warning messages to your cell phone, and you will be able to control it via video phone. (And it doesn't look weird like the ConnectR, another plus, and it doesn't hurt that a cute female is hawking it instead of Colin Angle.)

Like other Korean vacuum-type devices, I expect this product to be priced well above what iRobot's products, but iRobot definitely will not have this new product area all to itself. Pricing has not been released.

Tags: iRobot, Roomba

Wowwee Robopanda Deal $119.95!

For a very limited time, you can buy the The Interactive Wowwee Robopanda for $119.95 at online catalog Hammacher Schlemmer! FREE SHIPPING with coupon code GadgetFS at checkout!

This is the best deal I've seen by far on the Robopanda! Lots of other robot toys are available at Hammacher Schlemmer, including the The Voice-Activated R2-D2 Robot ($119), the Wowwee Roboquad ($89), and the Animatronic Singing And Talking Elvis ($299).

You may also want to consider the awesome Pleo robot toy in our Pleo Buyers Guide!

Robotic FX: We did bad, just not THAT bad...

Looks like Robotic FX is starting to act with a little more humility in an effort to stave off summary judgment against it and for iRobot in its patent infringement case alleging that the Negotiator robot is a copy of the PackBot.
In a filing last week, Xconomy reports, the company conceded that some sanctions are warranted other than nuking the company with a default judgment in iRobot's favor. (I'd say this is very good news -- Robotic FX must be VERY worried that the judge who issued the temporary restraining order will be very pissed at the story of Robotic FX CEO Jameel Ahed hiding a wiped/wiping? laptop under a bed just before U.S. Marshals arrived at Kimberly Hill's apartment to search for evidence.
"Robotic FX does not dispute that information potentially relevant to the present action may have been destroyed," the brief says. "Robotic FX acknowledges that Mr. Ahed’s actions were improper and concedes that reasonable sanctions may be appropriate under the circumstances."
(That seems a far cry from Ahed's 'memorabilia' hooey from his earlier testimony). The brief then seems to suggest that the judge should take pity on Ahed because he's only 29. (Could you imagine that defense in a murder case? "Judge, my client may have murdered somebody, but remember, he's only *29* -- he barely has any idea what he's doing...)
The brief also argues that just because he hid the laptop doesn't mean it was actually running the wipe program at the time! (So why hide it?)
At any rate, if Jameel Ahed is somehow too young and irresponsible to be accountable for his actions, I would pose that presumably he would also be too young and irresponsible to win a $280 MILLION CONTRACT! That reminds me, Army, it's time to get off your duff and decide once and for all whether you want to be partners with Ahed. The Army keeps saying that time is of the essence, but iRobot has said that it could be adding another shift and massively expanding its PackBot output right now, and certainly a lot faster than Ahed could have ramped up. Oh, and then there's that tidbit about how iRobot won an injunction against selling Negotiators too, so...
At any rate, speculation is that it could be mid-December before iRobot is *we hope* awarded the contract. (To read the long saga, click on the Robotic FX link below.)

Thanks, freecycling

Tags: iRobot, robot, Jameel Ahed, robot

Roomba 510 Released by iRobot!

UPDATE 3/26/08: The Roomba 510 is at Woot today for $154.95. I think better deals on more capable models are in the Roomba Buyers Guide.

BREAKING: Roomba has released the new Roomba 510 entry-level vacuum robot for $249.99! You can get the Roomba 510 for $249.99 Shipped after FREE SHIPPING over $200 promotion. Get 10% off accessories with our Exclusive coupon code RSN10 at Checkout!

The Roomba 510 appears identical to the Roomba 530 except it lacks a self-charging home base (the most important Roomba accessory) and has just one virtual wall. Both the Roomba 510 and 530 cannot be upgraded to use the new Lighthouse virtual walls which allow efficient Room-by-Room cleaning, and neither can be upgraded for Scheduling capability via the Wireless Command Center.

All iRobot Roombas are in stock.

Thanks, JSRN23!

Tags: iRobot, Roomba

What does Metal Storm Mean? 1 MILLION Rounds per minute!

iRobot's new partner in making terminator Warrior robots, Metal Storm, has reached the Navy test range and has technology that allows the firing of (gulp!) 1 million rounds per minute. Not that you'd actually have 1 million rounds on you. But in the YouTube video below, you can see what 180 rounds striking a target nearly simultaneously does. It's devastating. (Tip: If you play till the end, a whole bunch of additional devastating videos are available.)

More videos at Metal Storm's web site.
Note, the photo at the top features a Metal Storm kit system mounted on what appears to be Foster-Miller's Talon robot.
Via CNET.
Tags: iRobot, robot, Metal Storm, terminator, videos

ConnectR: It's a dog's life for a robot

A U.K. techie website is running a competition on a caption for a picture of the ConnectR telepresence robot from iRobot featured with a dog. Unfortunately, you have to be a U.K. resident to win.

Tags: iRobot, ConnectR

Self-Cleaning Toilets: The New Rage?

The bathroom is clearly the next area to be conquered by home robots. What dirtier or duller task is there than cleaning a toilet, or the shower? Well, a Swedish company at least has a self-cleaning toilet. Check out this hilarious commercial (thanks, jsrn23):

Tags: toilet, bathroom

iRobot Looj Wins 2008 CES Best of Innovations Award

First came the Roomba vacuum, then the Scooba robot mop, now the Looj. The Looj Gutter Cleaning Robot is the third winner for iRobot of the CES (Consumer Electronics Showcase) Best of Innovations Design and Engineering Award in four years.
As I've said previously, the free press iRobot will receive for Looj will almost certainly exceed its sales over the next year, and winning this award will mean lots of attention from gadget gurus and tech dudes during the CES convention early next year. (The iRobot Looj is as low as $89 Shipped in the Looj Buyers Guide.)
According to iRobot, judges awarded Looj the highest score among home appliances. More from the press release:

"iRobot's products are designed to free consumers from dull, dirty, and dangerous tasks, allowing them to do more of what they want to do and less of what they have to do," said Sandra B. Lawrence, president and general manager of iRobot Home Robots.
"We are pleased iRobot's design innovation and commitment to create a whole new category of practical and affordable household helpers, such as the iRobot® Roomba®, iRobot® Scooba™ and iRobot Looj, continues to be recognized by CES." (Editor's note: Sandy, how about getting the Looj and the Dirt Dog Workshop Robot into Home Depot by Father's Day?)
iRobot Looj is the first product of its kind designed to make gutter cleaning faster, easier and safer. Controlled by a wireless remote that doubles as a detachable handle, the Looj cleans an entire stretch of gutter from one location, reducing the number of times a ladder must be repositioned and climbed during gutter cleaning. Looj drives easily under gutter straps, propelled by a three-stage auger that dislodges and eliminates dirt, leaves and debris, which cause water damage, overspills and ice dams.
Since 1989, the CES Innovations Design and Engineering Awards program has showcased the most innovative consumer electronics and technologies. The program has become recognized as the hallmark event for showcasing the best-of-breed in product design and engineering.

Images and B-Roll
High-resolution images of iRobot Looj can be found at http://www.irobot.com/creative_assets -- Product b-roll can be downloaded from www.thenewsmarket.com/iRobot

Tags: iRobot, robot, Looj

Who needs ConnectR when you can have PyRobot?

A guy modified a Roomba (or is it a Create?) with new software and one of those new "One Laptop, One Child" XO laptops to create a web-accessible telepresence robot. It doesn't look like much -- yet -- but it's got an honest-to-goodness screen, Linux box, etc.


Via Wired.

Tags: iRobot, robot

BAE's Black Knight Robot Tank Looks Scary

Wired's Danger Room profiles the Black Knight Robot Tank by BAE Systems.

Pretty cool stuff. How much longer until we start seeing these things on the battlefield?

Tags: BAE Systems, tank

MSNBC notes the Robotic FX-iRobot scrum

MSNBC's CosmicLog is the latest to recap the Robotic FX-iRobot imbroglio.

3,000 Robots to Monitor The Oceans

How cool is this? Scientists are deploying 3,000 robots named "Argo" for Jason and the Argonauts to the oceans to measure global climate change.

Tags: robots, climate change

Good iRobot Scooba Customer Service

It's a minor anecdote, but thought I would tell it anyway. My Scooba 5900 recently had one of the well-documented charging issues with that long-since discontinued model. It simply wouldn't charge a battery, even a brand new one. One email to customer service and a Scooba 350 (the new $399 midrange model) was headed my way. All I have to do is send them my Scooba 5900 within 60 days. No fuss. The new Scooba 350 is a bit lighter than the Scooba 5900 with fewer metal parts, but, for my money, cleans better. It does a much better job of hugging edges than the original Scooba did. I'm a happy customer. Other than cleaning carpets, I prefer cleaning with Scooba to Roomba, although sometimes I use Roomba first in extra-dirty areas...
After you Scooba your floors, they have a nice sheen on them and are just a pleasure to walk on with bare feet. Roomba cleans just fine, but it doesn't get rid of the baked-on surface grime that Scooba handles with aplomb. Why people still mop is really beyond me. My kitchen floor went from a dark grey to solid white in two cleaning cycles. Gross, I know!

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

Metal Storm touts/details collaboration with iRobot on Armed Robots

Metal Storm Ltd's CEO Lee Finniear wrote a letter where he touted the company's recent collaboration with iRobot on weaponizing iRobot's military robotics platforms including the new iRobot Warrior:

"FireStorm" Display: Metal Storm and iRobot collaborated to mount the new 4 barrel "Firestorm" ROWS on the new iRobot Warrior robot. Positioned prominently at the corner of the iRobot booth, the Metal Storm/iRobot system became one of the most popular exhibits of the AUSA, attracting many of the US military top brass, as well as an avid following from attending journalists. Defence Weekly, for example, put "FireStorm"/Warrior as the only lead photograph for its coverage of AUSA, from a choice of products from over 500 exhibitors!

The mission illustrated for the exhibit was Perimeter Defence -- A computer generated image showed several "FireStorm" Warrior systems being deployed for base protection under the title FORCE MULTIPLIED. The concept was for many robots to patrol bases according to pre-defined routes, detecting and reporting any suspicious activity to a single operator in a command center. On intrusion detection, the operator would take control of the robot concerned and direct the "FireStorm" lethal or less than lethal response according to the scale of threat.

It was clear from visitors making comment at the booth that they could envisage many other potential uses for the equipment beyond the Perimeter Defence example.

Defense News Article covering AUSA

Metal Storm IED Disruptor Display: Slightly less prominent, but just as important, was the display of a prototype Metal Storm multi-shot 40mm Improvised Explosive Device (IED) disruptor prototype mounted to the arm of the iRobot PacBot. The Metal Storm prototype builds on work carried out under contract with the US Government on a stacked round IED Disruptor projectile. Given that IEDs are the main cause of US casualties in Iraq, and iRobot PackBots are in extensive use for counter IED missions there, the Metal Storm IED Disruptor is of particular practical significance.

METAL STORM - iROBOT PARTNERSHIP

Metal Storm has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with iRobot to collaborate on integrated weaponized robot development, plus business development and marketing. The MoU signing follows the highly successful joint exhibit at AUSA and provides a solid framework within which the companies can capitalize on the combination of two cutting edge technologies to deliver an impressive new capability to military customers.

Joe Dyer, president of iRobot Government & Industrial Robots, said, "Together with Metal Storm, we aim to develop a superior next-generation weapons platform that ensures absolute safety and always places a human in the decision loop. When you are talking about weaponizing robots, there is no margin for error. We believe combining best-of-breed combat-proven expertise from Metal Storm and iRobot will result in the most precise, safe, and effective solutions for our military customers."

As CEO of Metal Storm I believe that this partnership is one of the most important we have. Metal Storm is moving progressively toward the point where its weapons systems are fully certified for deployment. The unique advantages of our technology in terms of weight, electronic control, reliability, firepower and size are most clearly illustrated when combined with lightweight robotic platforms. This will become one of our most important markets.

As a partner, we see iRobot is one of the most successful military robotic platform providers in the world, with over 1000 robots performing active battlefield duties as the "eyes and ears" of soldiers on the front line, and protecting troops and civilians alike through its counter-IED missions. It is an ideal partner for Metal Storm.

Tags: iRobot, robot, Metal Storm, Army

$31,000 for a beer fridge robot?

Some people have way too much money. Fellow Massachusetts robotics firm Mobile Robots has a very expensive take on iRobot's ConnectR distance robot. Spend 100 times more and get, er, slightly more functionality. I don't like that ratio. (Maybe iRobot should add a cupholder to the ConnectR for beer-carrying duties).

thx, Longtermer

Tags: iRobot, robot

iRobot Wants Legal Expenses

An excellent post by Xconomy details iRobot's latest legal filing, this time from Alabama where it seeks expenses and up to a default judgment in iRobot's favor due to Jameel Ahed's destruction of evidence in the patent infringement lawsuit. Would seem to be insult on top of injury after Judge Nancy Gertner in the Massachusetts trade secret case tomahawked Robotic FX with an injunction against selling its Negotiator robot and whacked Ahed as not credible. The Xconomy post also has humorous new depositions from two Robotic FX employees, one of whom shares with Ahed a bizarre love for the DeLorean. (We've noted Ahed's DeLorean love before). The employees don't strike one as the sharpest tools in the shed, or, er, basement. But, hey, the Army certified them as worthy of completing a $280 million contract. Ah, before they rescinded that and set aside the contract, that is...

I'm looking forward to iRobot finally winning this contract and to lots more Roomba and Scooba sales.

thanks, longtermer

Tags: iRobot, robot

OT - Recession coming?

This is Way Off Topic, but a recession may be coming as a result of a credit crunch, collapsing dollar, bank troubles, housing bubble, $100 oil and a whole lot of other stuff. Things are looking bleak on Main Street and Wall Street. Can you smell the fear?

The Fed could soon have it's hands tied behind it's back. If it lowers interest rates too much more, it risks even cheaper dollar followed by $120 oil and inflation, forcing the Fed to RAISE interest rates in a time of weakness, leading to a big-time recession, further housing collapse, and scenarios I don't really want to contemplate.

At least we'll start exporting more (and maybe get a few more tourists looking for a cheap vacation?), and maybe folks will stop trying to be "patriotic" by buying Hummers (and giving our money to the Venezuelans, Russians, Saudis and Iranians...)

'Emotional Robots' from Korea

The Koreans have come out with robotic furballs (Furby update anyone?) with 'emotions.'
I figured it would take a while for an "emotion chip," but well, science is progressing faster than anyone could have imagined. :}

I'd still rather have a Pleo.

Hmm, I wonder if iRobot's ConnectR could be morphed into the Teddy Bear form factor?

Tags: Korea, robot

Colin Angle: We'll know soon on XBot contract

UPDATED 11/7 WITH NOTES: Looks like we'll hear in the next few weeks whether iRobot will be awarded the $286 million XBot contract, although iRobot CEO Colin Angle noted at a JP Morgan investor conference yesterday that only 100 robots in the contract has funding at this point. He also made clear that iRobot refused to get into a bidding war with Robotic FX and made a bid that it felt would have resulted from a negotiated contract rather than a reverse auction.

Here are my notes. I've moved up the talk on the Robotic FX Contract:

JP Morgan's Paul Coster: Xbot?
Angle: The Xbot fills the gap before SUGV, urgent need. Very unusual procurement. Awarded to a very small company created by a former iRobot employee. Strongly feel stole our trade secrets and infringed on our patents. Army set aside the contract based on ability of contractor to be responsible. Judge issued extraordinary relief, a preliminary injunction stopping Robotic FX from selling the robot, citing the track design being the result of stolen trade secrets as well as finding the CEO, Mr. Ahed not to be a credible witness.
Small Business Administration -- 2 week maximum review of ability of Robotic FX to be responsible. If that judgment doesn't somehow reverse, then iRobot will be the winner.

Coster: $286M bid? Can we realistically expect 3,000 robots to be shipped in the next 24 months?
Angle: No. First 100 are funded, and believe some funding beyond that. We do not believe the program as it currently exists as funding for 1,000 additional robots. SUGV could meet that same urgent need. May be some combination of xBots and also possibly further acceleration of the SUGV Early. There is a desire for large numbers going forward to the infantry and two potential vehicles to get there: XBot and FCS Sugv, and we would have contracts with both of them. Our strategy was to reject the reverse auction. (Robotic FX robot) more cheaply made. More than $20K less than our product. We knew going into a bidding war was a foolish endeavor. Price was price we thought we would achieve on a proper negotiation on a best value contract. We did not chase Mr. Ahed down. Feel we made an aggressive and fair bid.

Coster also had high praise for the company:
This is one of my top picks. I think we're at the top of a very sizable growth story. Long-term. Short-term investors can get hurt.

Colin Angle: 40 patents/50 pending. Formidable intellectual property. Shown a willingness to protect our intellectual property when we feel it has been infringed upon.
Just beginning. 1-2 percent market penetration so far in vacuums. No reason it could not grow 20-40 fold. Scrubbing floors, cleaning gutters. Similar market potential on government and industrial.

New Roomba 500 designed for cleaning every single day. Made to run every day for an hour or more for 3.5 years. All you need to do is empty the robot once or twice a week depending on your dirt generation. Most people only get to vacuum once a week.

Reducing return rates with higher reliability. Much more acceptable for the international market.

Two new robots. The iRobot Looj. Attacks a very widespread problem that is not as frequently recognized because it is so frequently neglected -- cleaning your gutters. Tracks are scaled down for the military PackBot.
The iRobot ConnectR a virtual visiting robot. Robot/webcam/speakerphone accessible from anywhere on the web. Better than a cell phone conversation for a 3.5 year old. Also for pet owners, and for security. Anytime you want to be in more than one place at the same time.
Pilot program is oversubscribed by 30-40 fold. Very substantial reaction.
Verro mentioned.

PackBot: Driving revenues. Over 1,200. New PackBot 510 faster, stronger more easy to use device. Explosive Ordnance Disposal, but a platform. It's modular. Can add new technology very easily. Software architecture -- have a developer's conference for additional payloads. Paid off in 2007 for bomb-sniffing FIDO PackBots. Stop vehicles one blast radius away from checkpoints to minimize damage from carbombs. Deployed over 150 this year. Doing a lot more partnerships. Taser and MetalStorm and Lockheed Martin on weaponization.

The real payoff is in the infantry starting in 2008. SUGV/SUGV Early.
iRobot Warrior -- one of the largest robots that you can easily drive around a building/up stairs.

Future years -- larger scale robotic vehicles, tens of thousands of robots.

Coster: Warrior more expensive, what about SUGV?
Angle: SUGV same cost outlook as PackBot, but depends on add-ons. Can be "well into the $100,000s."
Every day robots are in the field more missions are being designed for them. Asymmetric combat. Not firepower -- identifying who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.

Iraq -- up and downside for iRobot. Downside: Transformational programs less well funded because money going to urgent needs.

CFO Geoff Clear talked briefly about the legal expenses and shift in Roomba sales from third to fourth quarter. Very strong direct sales/recurring revenues/higher margins.
$240-250M revenue guidance. Up from $233-243M. 27-32% y/y. 35% gross margin. Nickel prices have come down 40% and will very shortly be locking in price for 2008.
Still $3-5M pretax profits. 50% growth in Roomba sell-through so far, needs to continue through the holiday season. Need production to continue at current rates from China.

Questions:

Consumables on Roomba 500? Colin: Yes, batteries, filters. Seeing significant sales of batteries on original Roombas, brushes. About 10% of sales. Clear: Even more important on military side.

Military side:
Angle talked about ability of robots to increase operational tempo in clearing buildings. Can work as tripwires, and as armed sentries with deterrent capability.
MetalStorm -- Hardly a moving part, very reliable firing.
Coster? Three laws of robotics, that's history now?
Colin: Well, a human in the loop making the decision to fire the weapon. Not likely to change. Probably 30 years away from a robot sophisticated enough to understand the three laws and have a consciousness of guilt.

Clear: G&I revenue locked in for the year, $40 million backlog at beginning of the quarter. Angle: Expect about $100 million quarter, heavily skewed toward home robots.

Coster: Acquired by Boeing, Lockheed or independent 5 years from now? Angle: Would certainly entertain offers. I do think we are going to be an independent company.

You can listen to the webcast here.

Editor's Note: They also appear to be having difficulty keeping up with Looj demand, at least on their web site, which quotes a 3-4 week shipping time. Is this a production issue or a demand issue, or both? (I only expect sales of 5,000-15,000 Looj robots this quarter, so it's not that big a deal compared to the Roomba issue, as Roombas are by far the most important product for the company).

Tags: iRobot

iRobot, Metal Storm Sign Warrior Deal

iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT) has signed a deal with Metal Storm Ltd. (NASDAQ:MTSX) to weaponize its military robots, including the pictured iRobot Warrior. There is potentially a huge market for weaponized robots, but companies must first hurdle the fears of robots going nuts and shooting the wrong people if there is a software glitch. Terminators, anyone? Of course, iRobot understands this.

Here is the press release:
Metal Storm Limited is pleased to announce that Metal Storm Inc has executed a Memorandum of Understanding with iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT). The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration and outlines the companies’ plans for the joint pursuit of opportunities within the Global Defense and Security sectors.
“Individually, our companies have created a major paradigm shift in how our forces are able to respond to the complexities of the battlefield,” said Peter D. Faulkner, senior vice president and general manager for Metal Storm’s U.S. Operations. “Together, we stand to shape a revolution by combining robot platforms with a scalable force response and increased mission capability including the defeat of IEDs.”
Joe Dyer, president of iRobot Government & Industrial Robots, said, “together with Metal Storm, we aim to develop a superior next-generation weapons platform that ensures absolute safety and always places a human in the decision loop. When you are talking about weaponizing robots, there is no margin for error. We believe combining best-of-breed combat-proven expertise from Metal Storm and iRobot will result in the most precise, safe, and effective solutions for our military customers.”

To watch a video of Metal Storm's 1 million Rounds per minute machine gun, check out this post.

Thanks, isce_ille_iste and wealjays!

Tags: iRobot, robot

iRobot Wins Injunction Against Robotic FX!!!

UDPATED 11/5: iRobot has issued a press release on the injunction.
Quote:
“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” said Colin Angle, chief executive officer of iRobot. “We stand ready to deliver our field-proven iRobot PackBots to aid our warfighters in their dangerous missions.”
Original Post from 11/2:
iRobot Corp. has won a slam-dunk injunction against Robotic FX from Judge Nancy Gertner, who issued a 30-page ruling that harshly criticized Robotic FX CEO Jameel Ahed's destruction of evidence in the case and ruled that iRobot was likely to succeed in its case based on the apparent misappropriations of trade secrets regarding iRobot's tank-track design on the PackBot.

Xconomy has the story. Here is the 30-page decision. It's a tour-de-force.

An iRobot lawyer is quoted saying that this will prevent Robotic FX from delivering on the 4,000 robot, $280 million Army contract that was recently set aside pending a reevaluation of whether Robotic FX is a responsible contractor. While Robotic FX would seem likely to appeal, I can't imagine an appellate court judge overturning this injunction and aiding someone who destroyed mounds of evidence.

This is HUGE for iRobot!!!

Tags: iRobot, robot

DARPA Urban Challenge Update

The DARPA Urban Challenge is over, and Carnegie Mellon came away with the top honors.


Popular Mechanics live-blogged the event.

Three competitors, from Stanford, Carnegie Mellon and Virginia Tech, completed the course in the alloted 6 hours. Numerous other competitors failed in qualifying rounds. iRobot's entry with Raytheon didn't even make it that far, sadly. Also not so good for iRobot and its MIT robotics progeny -- MIT's entry, bloated with 40 CPUs, stunk up the joint.

Tags: DARPA, robot

Robot War Boats Now on Sale

I've written before about the coming deluge of robotic warships, and now they are starting to come on line, Popular Mechanics reports. Like the Predator drone in the air, a fleet of small, remote-control ships will soon by extending the reach of the government into nooks and crannies that it couldn't possibly hope to reach with manned vessels. Imagine 1,000 or even 10,000 of these robot ships patrolling major drug and contraband trafficking routes? They could be run half a world away (drones in Iraq are guided out of Florida) and when they see a suspicious vessel, they could alert the nearest manned interdiction vessel. I think this is the wave of the future. iRobot has mentioned sea robotics as part of its long-term vision, but has ceded the early opportunities to better funded outfits like BAE Systems.

Tags: war, robot

Cheap PackBot Competitor Emerging in India

It's 1/10th of the cost of an American EOD bot, according to it's Indian engineer.

Tags: iRobot, PackBot