New Roomba w/Dock $139 Shipped

UPDATED 4/30: SUPER BETTER-THAN-WOOT DEAL IS BACK: The Roomba Discovery SE (New, not refurbished, includes self-charging dock) for $139 Shipped!!!! Woot had it for $145 a while back!

Tags: Roomba, robot

The Long, Sad Saga of Jameel Ahed, Robotic FX and iRobot

Wired's Noah Schachtman has a lengthy story detailing the Jameel Ahed/Robotic FX/iRobot saga at this link.

I'll update with details after I read it...

Tags: iRobot, Jameel+Ahed

iRobot gets additional $6 million for SUGV development

iRobot has received a $6 million boost to its contract for development of the Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) for the Future Combat Systems (FCS) program, covering the 25 SUGVs now being shipped to the military years ahead of schedule. The company now has $63 million total under the FCS contract. (Note that a decision on whether to move forward now with major purchases of the SUGV Early is expected in the September time frame after initial testing.)

Here is the press release:

iRobot's Future Combat Systems Contract Grows to Over $60 Million
Monday April 21, 8:30 am ET
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT - News) today announced the company reached a funding agreement with the U.S. Army’s Lead Systems Integrator (LSI) of Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation team on the previously determined direction of SUGV acceleration on January 17, 2008 under the Future Combat Systems (FCS) Program. Valued at $6 million, this award adds and accelerates delivery of 25 FCS Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) near-term robots for testing to ultimately provide added capabilities to soldiers in the field. iRobot’s FCS Program contract now totals approximately $63 million.
“iRobot is committed to supporting infantry with revolutionary, combat-proven robots that provide soldiers a decisive advantage on the battlefield, while helping to keep them out of harm’s way,” said Helen Greiner, co-founder and chairman of iRobot. “With this agreement, as well as the recently announced accelerated testing schedule for FCS SUGV robots, it is clear the U.S. Army truly values the mission critical role robots play in theater as part of warfighters’ teams.”
In 2003 iRobot announced it was selected by the U.S. Army and its Lead System Integrator team of Boeing and Science Applications International Corporation to develop a next-generation SUGV for the FCS program. FCS is the Army's modernization program consisting of a family of manned and unmanned systems, connected by a common network, that enable warfighters with leading-edge technologies and capabilities for operating in complex environments.
Modeled after the combat-proven iRobot PackBot, SUGV features a rugged, lightweight body enabling a single soldier to easily carry and quickly deploy the robot. It is designed to enter and secure areas that are either inaccessible or extremely risky and dangerous for warfighters, and provide real-time intelligence while allowing the soldiers to maintain a safe distance from the enemy. By being linked in to the FCS network, the images and information gained by the SUGV can rapidly be made available to the warfighter.
To date, iRobot has delivered more than 1,400 PackBot robots to a broad range of military and civilian customers worldwide.

Tags: iRobot, SUGV

iRobot 1st Quarter Earnings Due April 30

iRobot announced that it will announce 1st Quarter earnings April 30 after the market's close and will hold a conference call at 8:30 a.m. May 1.
Tags: iRobot, robot

iRobot to link military robots, Roomba in new ads

Perhaps looking to buff its home robots with a patina of patriotism, iRobot has hired a PR firm for a "branding" campaign aimed at linking the military division with its home robots in the eyes of the public. Smart move if done right.
Tags: iRobot

Overblown and incorrect saga of SWORDS debunked

I didn't post about this originally, because it was so obviously wrong. (Maybe I should have posted for that reason?) But Popular Mechanics and Danger Room have debunked stories prompted by inaccurate and increasingly breathless web reports of the context of what robotics chief Kevin Fahey said at last week's Robobusiness conference. (That's the danger of blogs, isn't it? One false but sexy and breathless tidbit: "ARMY PULLS ARMED ROBOTS AFTER IT POINTS GUN AT HUMANS, SAYS NO MORE ARMED ROBOTS FOR 10-20 YEARS" can get repeated very quickly and be seen as gospel, because after all, it was on the Internets, as it were. (Never mind that the article that prompted some of this breathless reporting quoted Fahey saying that they were about to deploy MORE armed robots to Iraq!)

Nevertheless, here is Popular Mechanics' follow on their poorly worded original story, featuring must-read quotes from the military and Foster-Miller, who are none too happy with how SWORDS has been portrayed, and Danger Room's follow, also featuring more comment.

Bottom line: The three SWORDS robots are still in Iraq and have not been used to fire their weapons, the actual reasons for which are still a mystery, but appear to be due to the reluctance of commanders to deploy it. (Ed: Perhaps wanting to avoid bad headlines, such as "TERMINATOR ROBOTS POINT AT SOLDIERS"?) More armed robots are going to Iraq, and it seems only a matter of time before we have many, many armed robots supplementing soldiers in dangerous situations. It seems like it would only take one "mouth of the cave moment" where a soldier's life is clearly on the line and an armed robot is available to take his place on the point, to prove invaluable.

I also note that iRobot has an armed variant of its iRobot Warrior project coming on line soon, but is dependent on funding which is not available yet even for SWORDS. I can see the warrior being a near-perfect Sniper-Killer. Send it into a building with a sniper, and it can climb the stairs and then use its twin shotguns to full effect.

Still, I wouldn't be surprised if the potential headline risk ("SHOCKING: MILITARY HARDWARE CAN BE DEADLY") results in the first heavily deployed units being something more like the Taser, which is also teaming with iRobot, although that capability may see its first deployment by domestic police forces.

Tags: iRobot, robot, iRobot, SWORDS, Foster-Miller, terminator

Will LNT go bankrupt?

Shortly after The Sharper Image entered bankruptcy protection (and stopped accepting its own gift cards), now there is word from the Wall Street Journal that Linens 'N Things may declare bankruptcy in the coming days. Linens 'N Things is a major purchaser of iRobot products, although my guess is that iRobot had forced LNT to pay up front for new shipments, as they had with Sharper Image. (iRobot should clarify this if and when a bankruptcy filing occurs). Dyson Inc. recently filed a lawsuit against LNT charging that LNT had failed to pay for more than $1 million in products, and stopped shipping product to LNT a while back, and LNT has counterclaimed that Dyson owes it money for not shipping them products that they had already advertised, according to news reports. If you have any LNT gift cards or know anybody who does, use them this weekend.

Tags: LNT

iRobot Jobs Watch, Now in Graph Form

I've posted regularly for the past two years on job postings at iRobot.com, because they can give investors an eye into the direction that management is taking the company and give at least some sense of how fast the company is growing in each division -- or not.

Jsrn23 has posted this auto-updating jobs graph that will show the level of jobs by iRobot division over time.

Great job!

Tags: iRobot, robot

21 Robot Businesses Evaluates by Colin Angle

Robot Central listed Colin Angle's take on 21 robotic business opportunities from his keynote. It's a must-read at this link.

Tags: iRobot, robot

U.S. News & World Report Profiles iRobot

With a visit to iRobot headquarters. Worth a read at this link.
(thx, ibnjoyn)
Tags: iRobot

iRobot Cuts Price on Scooba 380!

EXPIRED. Price has since been jacked back to $499.

iRobot has cut the price on the top-of-the-line Scooba 380 robot mop by $50 to $449. (I note they raised the price to $499 last June). My guess is that sales of ultra high end models may be getting dinged by the economy. In retrospect, it's probably a good year NOT to be releasing a new robotic lawnmower.

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

New Roomba Knockoff - $85 shipped

A company I've never heard of called "Clevervac" -- based in Illinois, the same state that produced Jameel Ahed, he of iRobot PackBot knockoff infamy, is selling a robotic vacuum called the "Auto Cleaner" that looks very, very much like an updated original Roomba vacuum, and includes a charcoal filter for air filtration. The company is selling the vacuums for $85 shipped direct and filters for $1.99 a pop. Includes a charging home base, a scheduler and a virtual wall.

I'd be SHOCKED if this doesn't violate iRobot's patents.

(BTW, the company also sells nature posters?!?)

Tags: iRobot, Roomba

New iRobot Floor Care Competition, Oil Drilling Robots? RoboBusiness 2008 Kicks Off

The Robobusiness 2008 Conference kicked off today with a speech from Kevin Fahey, the army's head of ground combat systems, praising robotic systems for saving lives. But two tidbits in this story at CBC News stand out:
iRobot CEO Colin Angle mentioned deep ocean oil drilling and janitorial duties as growth prospects for robotics:

In 2000, more than $80 billion U.S. was spent in the United States simply cleaning floors, he said, a pie the robot industry is well poised to grab.
Overall, the robot industry is growing briskly even though it hasn't yet discovered one breakthrough consumer product. While robot vacuum cleaners are gaining momentum — making up about five per cent of total vacuum sales last year — they are far from the holy grail of the industry, Angle said.
"We really don't have the killer application yet to drive things," he said. "There is obviously the opportunity here to do more."

Then there is this tidbit:

Paolo Pirjanian, CEO of navigation systems maker Evolution Robotics Inc., predicted that breakthrough is coming soon.
Robot-making companies are disrupting traditional businesses, which are now starting to take notice. Many of them will come out with their own robotic technologies in the next few months, he said.
"These floor-care companies have to take iRobot seriously."

What this says to me is that we could be seeing more robot vacuum knockoffs from some of the big players out there. That actually has the potential to be beneficial to iRobot by growing the market.

MAKEZine also has pics from the conference.
Tags: iRobot, Roomba, robots

iRobot Customer Service Silliness

iRobot just won an "Elite" award for its customer relations management, but they aren't perfect.
The Smart (Enough) Systems blog rips iRobot's customer service in one respect: The author bought a three robot package (Roomba, Scooba, Dirt Dog) but decided he didn't want to keep the Scooba during the 30-day return window. The company forced him to return ALL THREE ROBOTS to get a refund and then repurchase the TWO robots he wanted to keep. iRobot then had to refurb 3 robots instead of one and inconvenienced one of their better customers (who must have shelled out $700-$800) to boot. Apparently, prorating the cost was beyond the customer service rep's and/or iRobot's computer system's ability. It would have been a little bit complicated, given that these three robot packages include a Free Dirt Dog promo, but it would have been simple enough if iRobot had simply said, okay dude, we will refund the difference between the package price and the price of the Roomba and Dirt Dog on their own. This, of course, would save iRobot money and make customers happy! iRobot also had the bad luck to do this to a guy who writes books about "Enterprise Decision Management" for a living. Or perhaps, if they can fix this problem (which shouldn't be too hard), maybe they should send him a check and thank him for pointing out how they can get better. Hopefully the iRobot employees who read this will give customer service (which is outsourced) a memo.

(thx, micro)

Tags: iRobot, robot

iRobot Named "Elite" Service Award from CRM Magazine

iRobot's partnership with RightNow Technologies for its customer service has won kudos from CRM Magazine. The company says service has improved significantly and costs have been cut as a result.

Some stats I hadn't seen before:
* An offshore contact center launched within eight weeks for half the cost
* The company is now capable of administering 4,000 customer surveys monthly to garner customer insight
* The self-service rate improved to 97 percent
* Marketing contacts increased from 300,000 to 750,000

Thanks, jsrn!

Tags: iRobot, robot

Colin Angle files to sell 187,000 IRBT shares

iRobot CEO Colin Angle has filed a plan allowing him to sell up to 187,000 shares in the coming year, or 9.6% of his overall stake. (Angle, Chairwoman Helen Greiner and co-founder Rodney Brooks had suspended share sales last year when the stock was in the lower teens).

Tags: iRobot

BREAKING: Consumer Reports Warns Against Robotic Lawnmowers

Consumer Reports, the nation's leading consumer magazine, reviewed in its May 2008 issue two robotic lawnmowers, the Robomower RL1000 from Friendly Robotics and the LawnBott LB3200 Evolution and didn't like either of them.

The magazine judged the LawnBott "Not Acceptable" because of what it judged to be a safety hazard. The magazine said the blades continued to turn until the mower was lifted to a 45 degree angle, and then took five seconds to stop -- plenty of time for injury.

The RL1000 took less than a second to stop and at a lower angle, but Consumer Reports didn't like it's performance as a cutting machine, and said that the manufacturer recommends that you supervise the machine while it is running, so it isn't as big a timesaver as they claim because it can take 4 hours to mow a half-acre lawn.

Myself, I'm not the biggest fan of Consumer Reports' reviews of technology-related products (I thought they were dead wrong and frankly stupid in their review of the Scooba robotic mop), but safety is going to be an absolute key issue that iRobot will have to knock out of the park if and when it brings a robotic lawnmower to market. I'd like to see the stats in the meantime on injuries from robotic lawnmowers versus push mowers and tractors. My understanding is that robotic lawnmowers have a MUCH better safety record, while regular mowers regularly chop off body parts of drivers who lose their balance, etc.


The link.

Tags: iRobot, robot,
Tags: Robomower, Lawnbott