iRobot CEO Colin Angle, Co-Founder Rodney Brooks talk about surviving a recession

Colin Angle and Rodney Brooks recently sat down with Mass High Tech. Article notes the company originally wanted to send robots to the moon and sell the movie rights.

Tags: iRobot, robot

Consumer Reports doesn't like the Looj

Consumer Reports reviewed the Looj 155 gutter cleaning robot in the October 2009 magazine issue. The review complained about various features of the Looj, saying that the remote sometimes didn't work beyond 15 feet, that the Looj took a while to clean the gutter, sometimes needed rescuing, and sometimes sprayed stuff back onto the roof instead of in the yard. Then you have to clean up the stuff after it sprays it into the yard. But they did not dismiss the product entirely, saying that it would be most useful for hard-to-reach gutters. I'd say it's best for someone who doesn't want to pay somebody else to clean their gutters at a price that tops the Looj's (about $129+), pay the fortune that gutter covers cost, or already have their own system for cleaning. I do think that this product can continue to evolve and get better over time. Hoping iRobot sticks it out.

Tags: iRobot, Looj

Is Boston Dynamics' Precision Urban Hopper competition for iRobot?

A small, nimble robot called the Precision Urban Hopper, which can leap two stories in a single bound despite being smaller than a PackBot, is making a splash on TV via a BBC video. Check it out at Gizmodo.

Seems like Boston Dynamics, which also has developed the freaky Big Dog robotic pack mule, is thinking of muscling in on the small robot scene currently dominated by iRobot.

Tags: iRobot, robot, Boston Dynamics

Robotics Rodeo features iRobot SUGV

iRobot's SUGV and PackBot 510 with FasTac kit were featured at a robotics rodeo last week held by the U.S. Army.

Key quote: “We've all fought and we've lost friends on places where unmanned ground vehicles could have done the task equally well, and I regret that like you'll never know,” Lynch, who lost 153 GIs while leading the 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, told the men. “If I had done a better job fielding unmanned ground vehicles, those young people would still be alive.”

An iRobot exec also is quoted talking about the problem with small robots being that the enemy could pick it up and carry it away as a war trophy in an urban environment. (Sounds like a great idea -- send in a fleet of 'em as Trojan Horses with radio tracking so you find the enemy lair! Easy.)

The Houston Chronicle has the story.

Also of note, the R-Gator also made an appearance. That model, a John Deere/iRobot collaboration, has been in the prototype stage for years now but hasn't been able to generate real-world orders of consequence.

Tags: iRobot, robot, SUGV

iRobot Launching "SPARK" Program to Ramp Up Robotics Education

Here's some real exciting news -- iRobot is getting ready to debut a major new effort to kickstart robotics education. It's called SPARK, and iRobot is testing a new website to go along with the effort, with what looks like a dozen major partner. The website is at this link. Let me know what you think in this post's comments. I like it.

Tags: iRobot, robot, robotics, education

iRobot CEO Colin Angle Says Robot Nurses will Cut Health Care Costs

Health care is a $2.2 trillion a year business. iRobot CEO Colin Angle tells CNET's Erica Ogg that robotic nurses can help cut those costs. She includes a photo of a prototype that looks like an iRobot LE (a telepresence robot first developed in 2000).

We know that iRobot has been developing such a robot, called the iRobot CiCi, and have reported that on the blog in the past, but unknown is when iRobot will actually bring such a device to market. A couple years back, Angle predicted that this year would be the year devices in the $1,000 range would make their debut.

Given that health care is perhaps the only really healthy sector of the economy, it would be great for the stock, if nothing else, if iRobot announced a serious competitor here. Even better if they could get Medicare to approve the device for reimbursement.

Tags: iRobot, robot, Medicare, nursing, health

Blog on Vacation

Sorry about the lack of updates. I've been enjoying August, but expect more updates shortly.

iRobot has won several important government contract orders recently, but the big kahuna for this stock remains the forthcoming SUGV contract, which is make or break for the stock. That -- and any sign that retail is making a recovery for Christmas, that is...Too bad there is no cash for clunker vacuums!

-Thorn

Tags: iRobot