iRobot Patents NEW Roomba Navigation System, Could Match Neato Robotics Vacuum, Mint Robot

iRobot's New "Celestial" Roomba Navigation System

The days of Roomba bouncing around your house like a blind drunk may be coming to an end.
Robot Stock News has discovered that iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) has patented an intelligent new navigation system for its Roomba line of robotic vacuums that will enable it to compete with the new crop of autonomous home robots like Evolution Robotics' $249 Mint cleaner, the $399 Neato Robotics' XV-11 vacuum and Samsung's $600 Navibot.
The new iRobot navigation system, while not as advanced as the 3D-laser vision system on its military-issue SUGV robot, seems very similar to Evolution's NorthStar system, which uses a stationary emitter that projects infrared dots on a ceiling that the robot can detect and use to navigate. (Sort of like sailors of yore using the heavens, hence "NorthStar"). 
The iRobot system, dubbed "Celestial Navigation System for an Autonomous Robot," bounces IR or other signals from an emitter off of either a wall or a ceiling, which the robot then uses to triangulate its position at all times via an array of photodiode detectors on the top of the robot. The robot also makes a map of the room, and the system is seen as complimentary to existing bump and other sensors already on the Roomba.

One drawback, shared by the Mint: either you have to keep moving the emitter from room to room, or each room will have to have its own emitter. The patent envisions emitters in every room in the home, so iRobot will have to figure out a way to make sure they are ultra-cheap and unobtrusive. (An updated patent application shows iRobot has contemplated having the Roomba wirelessly power the emitters as it moves through the room via either RF or magnetoresonance energy so owners don't have to change batteries or plug them in).
The Neato's laser guidance system still seems to be superior on paper because it's entirely self-contained within the robot, and I'm still stunned that this startup managed to figure out laser navigation before iRobot. My guess is that iRobot's solution will require more computing horsepower than the NorthStar system, because NorthStar codes each IR dot with a location, and iRobot's solution requires the robot to calculate its position.

Roomba's algorithms are inefficient

The patent claims that the robot can head from room to room to room, and emitter to emitter to emitter, and remember its way back to the base station to recharge when it is running low on power (each emitter has a unique, coded IR signature; think smart breadcrumbs and Hansel and Gretel). Once it's juiced up, it remembers its way back to the room and the location where it left off.

Neato's XV-11 also claims to do this via its laser-mapping system, although some reviews suggest it isn't always successful. The Samsung Navibot also claims the same.

The patent, meanwhile, readily acknowledges the shortcomings of Roomba's existing randomized algorithms, bump sensors and IR sensors, "as they allow the robot to only recognize when objects are in its immediate vicinity."

Even systems that rely on IR patterns — presumably Northstar? — "are best employed in working spaces where few objects are present that may interfere with the dispersed patterns of infrared signals."

"These limitations of the above types of navigational systems are, at present, a hurdle to creating a highly independent autonomous robot, which can navigate in a complex environment. There is, therefore, a need for a navigational system for a robot that can allow the robot to operate autonomously within an environment that may be cluttered with a number of obstacles at or near the operational or ground level," the patent claims. 

Neato's laser-guided XV-11

So, what does all this navigation talk get you? Neato Robotics VP Patick De Neale laid out the advantages of smart navigation in a recent smackdown of Roomba. 
A smarter robot can clean in a fraction of the time (five times faster for Neato than Roomba), allowing a much more powerful vacuum (because you don't have to waste battery power on moving the robot around for an hour), more convenience for owners (because you don't have to wait as long for it to finish), more floor coverage in general, and start-stop capability to effectively allow an entire floor to be cleaned every day.
The patent also claims other benefits, such as the ability to remotely schedule via computer which rooms you want to clean. And in combination with Roomba's dirt-detection sensor (something Neato lacks), the robot can create a map for future use of higher-traffic areas that need more attention. (One of the complaints about the Neato is that it makes a single pass regardless of how much dirt is there when sometimes more passes are needed). The patent said the new Roomba guidance system may also map areas where it tends to get trapped and avoid them in future runs, while remembering that it needs to vacuum carpeted areas longer than bare floors.
The updated application also says that the new navigation system could go well beyond robotic vacuums and include "floor waxing and polishing, floor scrubbing (Scooba, anyone?), ice resurfacing, unfinished floor sanding, stain/paint application, ice melting and snow removal, grass-cutting, etc."
It's about time iRobot had a major upgrade of the Roomba, and here's hoping that they will do so at next year's CES. The company's Roomba line is still selling like hotcakes — and they told investors during their last quarter's conference call that they won't be able to make them fast enough to meet surging overseas demand until next year, when a new contract manufacturer in China comes on line. Here's hoping that a major new Roomba upgrade comes on line at the same time.
One caution to note, as I've been covering iRobot here since 2006 — a patent filing isn't the same as an intention to actually build something. They've previously filed for patents on a potty-trained Roomba, a square-front Roomba (like Neato's XV-11) and even an iRobot robotic lawnmower, and we're still waiting on those products to materialize. Even more worrisome — iRobot initially filed an application for this patent in 2004, although it appears to have been updated with filings in 2005 and 2009. The patent was published in April. 
With new concerns cropping up about the Neato XV-11's reliability, iRobot still has a chance to avoid being the Blackberry of smartphones — the established leader that sees its empire eclipsed through a lack of innovation — but they have to deliver, and soon.
You can read the whole patent in all its glory at the U.S. Patent Office website. The updated 2009 application, which contains several revisions, was also published in April 2010 and is located here.

Demise of Bloglines Shows Corporate Stupidity, But What Else is New?

Yeah, this is an off-topic post, but the announcement that Bloglines, one of the original aggregators of news, is shutting down in this week, strikes me as one of the biggest examples I can remember of how you can get killed by a lack of innovation and vision. (Think newspapers).
So how is it that a company bought for $10 million several years ago by Ask.com [a subsidiary of InterActive Corporation (Nasdaq:IACI)] is simply shutting down? I'm sure some fired employees at some point will tell us the ugly inside tale, but for me it seems to be what happens when you are absorbed into a company that promptly forgets about you, stifles innovation and watches as competitors pass you by. (Like when the Sidekick cellphone company was bought by clueless Microsoft and butchered).
Where was the Bloglines iPhone App? How about the iPad? Brilliant startups like Pulse by Alphonso Labs and Flipbook and aggregators like the HuffingtonPost were eating the lunch of companies like Bloglines, which seemed to have an interface stuck in the 1990s.
Officially, the company blamed the decision on Facebook and Twitter, but that's totally LAME. Facebook and Twitter are making other companies rich, if they know how to exploit their power.
Obviously Ask.com had no idea how to do that.
I know in my business, and I'm sure you do in yours, you run into stupid executives making stupid decisions all the time. Usually because they are afraid to innovate. (The New York Times also has another excellent example in a takedown of Nokia's failure to develop touchscreen phones even though they had their first prototype three years before the iPhone. The execs said: Too risky. And Steve Jobs is still eating their lunch.)
Bringing this home to iRobot, I'm growing concerned that they aren't innovating fast enough and are growing too risk averse after hearing again and again from analysts that they need to focus on the short-term bottom line. Two of their cofounders, Rodney Brooks and Helen Greiner, had to leave the company to pursue their visions and start up other robotics companies, presumably because iRobot didn't want to deal with the risk in-house. Now, the company's iconic product, the Roomba, is under attack from a new crop of capable, innovative competitors. It needs innovation, and it needs it now.

Neato Robotics XV-11 Vacuum Reviews Suggest Reliability is Suspect

Neato XV-11

The Neato Robotics XV-11 vacuum has the potential to eat big into the Roomba empire built by iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT), but a new set of reviews at Amazon suggests early reliability problems plague the upstart robot maker. While 13 of the 28 reviews are still 5 stars and many say that Neato's product outperforms Roomba, there clearly are some upset customers out there who got lemons. Overall, the rating is down to 3.5 stars — less than some Roomba models.
One reviewer quoted a company representative saying that they had ramped down production to upgrade the robots to deal with all of the complaints that they have been receiving. "It seems to me Neato has adopted the now seemingly popular and despicable practice of allowing paying customers to be beta testers to work out the kinks of not ready for market products," the reviewer said. (Ouch!)
Given that the product already was delayed by more than six months due to unknown supply chain problems, you'd hope they would have had time to iron some of these kinks out.
Others complained about poor customer service (the company at one point was apparently telling customers with dead robots that they had to buy another and then return the first one for a refund, or else wait — weird). But that's not that surprising either given that this is a brand new product from a brand new company.
Other XV-11 complaints contained in the reviews include:
* weak edge suction.
* some report frequent error codes or the robot getting stuck on cords/under items and requiring human intervention.
* some say the robot had trouble finding its home base and returning to where it left off, or simply gets lost. (Not acceptable when a chief selling point is superior laser navigation). That seems to be a potential pitfall here — while the Neato is designed to be a much more precise, smarter machine than the Roomba, a failure of any of its sensor systems would seem to be catastrophic, and so there is less room for error. If a modern Roomba's proximity sensor fails, it will still function, albeit it will hit objects harder with its bumper. If a Neato's sensor is off just 10 percent or so, it won't properly cover the whole room.
* a circle dance flaw (remember when Roomba used to suffer from that pre-2005?).

New tech gadgets often have glitches at the start, and when the first Roomba debuted in 2002 it had plenty of flaws of its own, including sketchy reliability. Modern Roombas are much more reliable, and Neato needs to get on top of this, because people won't stand for products that don't work right regardless of how superior the technology is on paper. (I'm convinced that the problematic reliability of the first Roomba models significantly hurt the growth of the industry.)
I've also seen some complaints that the Neato does not have a USB port for uploading firmware fixes. This is not true. The company has confirmed that it does have a USB port, but it is covered by a plastic cover.

In the meantime, if you are interested in a Neato, buying it from Hammacher Schlemmer is a no brainer. That way you get a free lifetime guarantee. (I'd not that shipments have been delayed to 10/20/10 — either a sign of the aforementioned slowdown in manufacturing or a sign that they are selling like hotcakes, or both).

At any rate, looks like my earlier roundup of XV-11 reviews was premature.

Heartland Robotics Announce New VP, Rodney Brooks Promises "Unbelievably Inexpensive" Manufacturing Robots

Startup Heartland Robotics has announced it has hired Paula Long, cofounder of EqualLogic, which was acquired by Dell for $1.4 billion, as its new VP of software development.
Meanwhile, Heartland founder, iRobot co-Founder and former MIT professor Rodney Brooks, said the company is on track to producing its first robots for manufacturing environments.
"Our robots will be intuitive to use, intelligent and highly flexible. They'll be easy to buy, train, and deploy and will be unbelievably inexpensive," Brooks said in a press release. "Heartland Robotics will change the definition of how and where robots can be used, dramatically expanding the robot marketplace."

Heartland is funded by Charles River Ventures and Bezos Expeditions -- the personal investment company of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos.

Frank Tobe interviews iRobot co-founder Rodney Brooks

Frank Tobe of The Robot Report interviewed Rodney Brooks this week and found him optimistic about the future of robotics, particularly in manufacturing at small and medium sized businesses, where Brooks' new company, Heartland Robotics, is focused. Tobe said Brooks expects a "National Robotics Initiative" to emerge soon that will help fund the growth of the industry.

Benchmark Analyst Covers iRobot Corporation, Recommends "Hold"

I think Wall Street analysts are stealing our money, but a new one has taken a look at NASDAQ:IRBT and pronounced "Hold" with a $20 price target. Earnings are estimated at 61 cents this year vs. 56 cents consensus.

iRobot wins $14 million contract; stock rises 7%

iRobot has won a new $14 million contract from the Army. It's not clear what this is for - the company did not issue a press release. But the stock soared to $19 a share nonetheless. (Thx, Joe)

Hoalaha Robotics CEO Tandy Trower Eyes Boom in Caregiver Robots; iRobot Plans Still Under Wraps

Tandy Trower

Today's Boston Globe has an article saying that caregiver robots for the elderly aren't yet ready for prime time, and calls out iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT) for not delivering yet on its plans for health care robots. Instead, the Globe eyes Hoalaha Robotics, a startup from ex-Microsoft executive Tandy Trower (Trower led the development team on the Microsoft Robotics Studio), which is also aiming to develop eldercare robots.

Trower, has, ironically, linked up with Robosoft to provide the hardware while he provides the software for his caregiver robots.
He details his vision for Hoalaha Robotics in a Sept. 12 blog post.

Trower, as Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates has done in the past, sees this era of robotics as similar to the early stages of the PC industry, and says compelling software and a software platform is needed to drive the business. He sees caring for seniors as the jackpot, as does iRobot CEO Colin Angle. Trower credits iRobot in his article as well, but said that to date there hasn't been a giant mover into the field to kickstart it, a la IBM entering the PC market in the 1980s.

My own take on this is a little more pessimistic. If this was an easy thing to do, Trower would have accomplished it with all of Microsoft's resources behind it. It's hard to see how a startup can accomplish this where neither $250 billion company Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) or $500 million company, iRobot, has succeeded to date.  But you never know. Many of the great Silicon Valley stories have started out in garages after all, and let's toast Tandy for giving it a shot.

Have $15K to burn? The QB from Anybots is now available for order

QB Robot

Evan Ackerman from Botjunkie attended the launch party for Anybots $15,000 QB remote-presence wheeled robot, which looks sort of like a friendly, robotic flight attendant attached to a Segway. Check out the photos and videos at Botjunkie.

Then, head to the Anybots website to order one. Apparently, they haven't yet sold out the first 100.

The idea, according to Anybots, is effectively the same as the Avatar movie. You jack in to your Anybot from anywhere else in the world, and move around, interact with people, etc. A CEO of a multinational corporation could have an Anybot in every one of his far-flung factories and save the time and money of using the corporate jet all the time. (I could see this being particularly popular among Silicon Valley types.)

iRobot-LE

The idea is far from new, and I would be remiss in not mentioning iRobot Corporation's (NASDAQ:IRBT) long history in this field. iRobot tried, and failed, to commercialize a $4,995 remote presence robot called the iRobot-LE (later dubbed the iRobot CoWorker) a decade ago and mothballed it. The company then test-marketed the ConnectR robot, which essentially was a Roomba with a camera on it, which it listed as a $699 remote presence robot that would work for families. But that was a bust too. I've written extensively about ConnectR, complaining mostly about two problems -- the lack of a screen preventing two-way video, and the low-to-the ground Roomba form factor, which is ideal for cleaning floors but not for interacting with people.

iRobot ConnectR

Anybots solved the screen issue -- a screen displays a face at the top of the robot -- and the form factor is great. But $15,000 makes this robot the exclusive purview of executives and robotics geeks. (Although maybe the government should consider buying some for instant, surprise inspections of chemical plants, drug manufacturing facilities, etc.).

iRobot meanwhile has since focused its energies on building an eldercare robot for the home. One that will include a telepresence capability, as well as integration with the iPad, iPhone and Android platforms, while performing such key tasks as reminding grandma when to take her medicine. It will surely be a lot cheaper than $15,000, given iRobot CEO Colin Angle's commitment to cost-cutting.

iRobot's New SUGV Robot Can Drive Itself with 3D Laser Vision

Thomas Allen

iRobot Corporation (Nasdaq: IRBT) has developed an all-new, optional "autonomy payload" known as "Awarehead" for its Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV), according to a new video interview with the company. The new semi-autonomous SUGV, which features 3D stereo laser vision, GPS and other sensors, can drive itself, freeing up soldiers for other tasks.

"I can click a point on a map, and the robot will go there," said iRobot's hunky program manager Thomas Allen, in an interview with Engineering TV. And it will do it "without hitting people, objects or falling into holes."

The SUGV will even pick up items once directed to do so via a 3D-based visual controller system.

The new self-navigation capability frees up soldiers for other tasks, Allen said. The new payload allows soldiers to spend just 10% of their time on the robot. Robots already in the field in Iraq and Afghanistan are essentially dumb, remote controlled vehicles that require soldiers to spend 90% of their time driving them.

iRobot's Autonomy Payload

"It's really a huge leap forward in taking robots from a direct operator intervention item to really a more autonomous team member that can be tasked at a high level and execute commands on its own," Allen said. 

The new payload also makes a map of the area, takes videos, and can spotlight suspicious objects, and the map can then be shared with central command and other units, Allen said. The robot also features wide angle zoom, radio, optional night vision, and ports for additional sensors, such as chemical and biological sensors.

Control SUGV with a touchscreen

The new autonomous capability is built on iRobot's Linux-based Aware 2 operating system platform, which Allen said is akin to Microsoft Windows for PCs and allows third-party developers to easily develop new programs on top of it. Allen also said that the new payload can also be retrofitted to "legacy" PackBots. (Seems like a huge opportunity for iRobot going forward.) One last tidbit: iRobot has sold 250 SUGVs to date.)

Closeup of the SUGV sensor package

The new technology appears to be built on the Wayfarer research project, which we've covered before here at Robot Stock News. You can click the category below for all of our Wayfarer coverage. 

Here's the video (it's 9 minutes long):

Rodney Brooks' vision of robotics in manufacturing

Rodney Brooks, a cofounder of iRobot and the head of Heartland Robotics, a startup, gave a talk at Maker Faire in 2009 giving his vision of the massive need for robots to deal with the demographic aging of the population. The guy is a genius, and if you haven't seen this, it's a treat. It also is perhaps the best explanation I've heard of why investments in robots now are poised for massive growth in the future...

Check out the video at the link.

iRobot SUGV faces critical test now, Wall Street Journal reports

The Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) from iRobot Corporation (NASDAQ:IRBT), along with the small UAV droid and other components of the brigade modernization program, is undergoing an extensive test right now by the Army, and the results could determine how soon the system gets deployed to the field, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. According to the report, the Defense Department would like to start buying more sets of equipment later this year, and the equipment could be in the field in 2012, all networked so that soldiers have a realtime view of the battlefield. A similar test last year had less-than-stellar results, and the Journal notes the program will have to escape a round of defense budget cuts to stay alive. The Journal has some nice pictures of the SUGV in action in a slideshow. What I find fascinating about these stories is they always talk about the $18 billion (!) spent on the predecessor Future Combat Systems program, but when the Army shows off what they've accomplished, they always turn to the humble SUGV. As I've said before, the SUGV is by far the most important product for iRobot, potentially resulting in $1 billion in sales over many years if it is deployed to all combat teams as now planned.

Boston Globe loves Evolution Robotics' Mint, but I still don't care about it

You can read the Globe's review of Mint here.

The dude says it mops as well as he could have. I say he must be a terrible mopper. He also pans the XV-11, saying it gets tangled in cords and such.

Neato Robotics VP rips Roomba, kicks off robot vacuum war

Get ready for some serious geek vs. geek combat. A top Neato Robotics executive talked smack about the iRobot Roomba robot vacuum in a must-see but little-noticed lecture in April (link to video). Neato Vice President of Business Development Patrick De Neale, speaking at the renowned Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), focused on floor coverage, cleaning performance and convenience, and said the Roomba falls short vs. Neato's breakthrough product, the $399 XV-11 laser-guided vac, on all three.
The lecture included one cheap shot by using an ancient 2004 quote from the Wall Street Journal: "The only thing the latest robot vacuums can't do is clean." (iRobot Corporation (Nasdaq: IRBT) has drastically improved the Roomba since then.)
But the rest of the lecture was eye-opening for its surgical evisceration of the Roomba as an older, dumber technology that is, at its core, a glorified sweeper. The blind Roomba simply reacts to its environment based on bumping in to things and employing randomized algorithms. It has to make educated guesses about the size of the rooms, how long to clean, etc.

Neato is gunning for Roomba

Neato's XV-11, instead, better mimics the "mammalian brain" by using SLAM - Simultaneous Localization and Mapping - to plot its way around a room. The key for the whole project was Neato's development of a cheap laser guidance system, De Neale said. At the time Neato began development several years ago, the reference laser they used cost $2,000. They either had to cut the cost of the laser by a stunning two orders of magnitude, or scuttle the project. They pulled it off, building an IR laser rangefinder with a CMOS sensor that enabled triangulation for sensing objects, people, etc. The process wasn't easy. "It took a lot more development than we thought it would take," De Neale said.
But with the laser in hand, Neato had to develop software for high-level planning and location awareness for the robot, while keeping the processor load at a minimum to hold down costs. The XV-11 calculates a series of partial maps so that it doesn't stress the processor, rather than keeping your whole house in its head at the same time. Also, because the laser system is 2D, the XV-11 also has bump, cliff and other sensors to pick up what the laser can't see. And its mapping algorithm adjusts when people, pets or other objects move around.
In a vac-off with Roomba, the XV-11 vacuums an 8 by 12 foot room in about 10 minutes. A Roomba 560 takes 41 minutes.
That's important for several reasons. He emphasized that the more efficient cleaning wasn't just more convenient for users. It also enabled Neato to include a much more powerful vacuum. In the Neato, 80 percent of the battery life is devoted to powering the cleaning system and just 20 percent to moving the vacuum around. Since a Roomba has to take much longer to vacuum a room, "so much more of your power has to go toward driving it around."
He summed up the difference: "We're a robotic vacuum and not necessarily a vacuuming robot."
While he acknowledged that the Roomba has improved over time, he said that it "tends to be a sweeper primarily" with a small vacuum assisting for fine particles.
The Neato relies much more on its vacuum than its roller bar, and they don't include a brush bar. "The roll of the brush is different with a real vacuum," he said. That makes it much easier to clean than the Roomba, which requires owners to clean hair out of its brushes regularly. That cleaning takes away from the usefulness of the robot. "You want to make sure that your new technology isn't introducing more tasks that they didn't have to do before," De Neale said.
(He didn't note that the more powerful vac also allows decent cleaning in a single pass, and while the Roomba might pass over a particular area four times in a cycle, it might need to to clean it properly.)
Neato also addressed one potential weakness of Neato's technology - their lack of iRobot's patented Virtual Walls. Neato sells unsightly magnetic strips instead that block the vacuum from areas you don't want it to go, but he said Neato is working to tweak its robot so that the robot automatically knows where to go and not go without users being required to take action. "We really don't see this as a long term solution," he said.
Already, the Neato has been designed to recognize doorways, and finish cleaning one room before going to the next. (iRobot for a time had this capability when using "Lighthouse" Virtual Walls, but the company has since abandoned that technology).
Another key selling point for the XV-11: When it runs low on power, because it knows where it is and remembers where it's home base is, it simply goes back to the base to charge and can resume cleaning where it left off. (Ingenious).
The battery life doesn't last as long as a Roomba - about an hour and 20 minutes on hard floors vs. two hours. Neato lasts about 55 minutes on carpet. That sounds perfectly fine to me, given the mapping and the self-charging charging capabilities.
De Neale ended the talk with a focus on the grandmother of Neato employee No. 1, who lives in Moscow and loves her Neato. The Powerpoint slide talked about her as their most important customer. The drift was that if this ditsy lady -- who doesn't even know how to turn on a radio (really?) can operate the vacuum, they must be doing something right...
So far, iRobot executives seem to have avoided discussing the looming Neato threat. Care to riposte, CEO Colin Angle? Seems like this has the potential for Eric Schmidt vs. Steve Jobs-level animosity...

Why I don't care about Evolution Robotics' Mint

Evolution Robotics' Mint Cleaner

The Neato Robotics' vacuum isn't the only robot out there trying to take a chunk out of iRobot's hide; there's also the Mint from Evolution Robotics, which is a robotic wet/dry Swiffer for your floors. Color me bored. I have NO idea why somebody would buy a Mint for $249 when you can buy a Scooba -- a real, genuine, powerful robotic mop with a lifetime guarantee attached (if you buy from Hammacher) for the SAME PRICE. Maybe if the mint was $99? The thing has a whiz-bang navigation system attached to a glorified duster.

The only way I see this affecting iRobot is if a bunch of reviews pour in saying that the Scooba does a better job, generating a wave of publicity for the Scooba (and more sales). Please, please, please, Consumer Reports, take another look at Scooba and compare it to the lame competition. Maybe they would reconsider their panning of Scooba? (They complained it doesn't do corners -- duh -- and can't handle a large dollop of ketchup in the middle of the floor. I mean, seriously? Who does that?) IMHO, the $249 Scooba is still the highest achievement in the history of home robotics, but has been poorly marketed.

Maybe somebody will show me a shockingly positive review of the Mint and change my mind (and don't just talk about its ability to get into corners), but unless the damn thing suddenly changes its own diapers and takes out the trash, I intend to think very, very little about it except as a case study in companies making stuff I don't need or want.

One last comment -- Navigation matters much more for a vacuum than for a mop. Why? Because anybody who has a Scooba will tell you, the first pass moistens stuck-on stuff, the second pass starts to break it up, and the third and fourth passes do the trick. Navigation might help this just a touch, but not really. The longer the Scooba is running, the more time for caked-on dirt to moisten and get dislodged. It's a fundamentally different process than vacuuming. I suppose it matters some in the Mint's case because running a Swiffer over the same spot three or four times isn't going to help much...

(UPDATED: The Boston Globe disagrees with me, disses the XV-11, and loves the Mint.)

iPad apps central to iRobot's health care robots

InTouch robot

iRobot has listed two positions on its website advertising for software engineers to create iPad and iPhone apps for the company's new healthcare division. One can only hope that iRobot will come out with a blockbuster product next year that will be accessible via any smartphone or tablet anywhere in the world.
According to the post, the manager will develop apps for Android devices and iPads, including cloud-based applications "interacting with a variety of mobile and computing devices."

That division aims to keep seniors in their homes longer by aiding them in a variety of tasks, like taking their medicine on time. Each month at home instead of in an assisted living facility or nursing home saves everyone a bundle and make the senior happier too.
I could see an iPad serving as the touchscreen face of the robot itself (much cheaper than developing one on your own, like the pictured InTouch robot), while any family member would be able to check in on grandma via any iOS or web-connected device, etc. Seems like a slam dunk to me.

Tags: iRobot, healthcare, iPad, iPhone

Samsung Launches Vacuum Spybot

The new Samsung Vacuum and Home Surveillance Robot

Samsung, fresh off introducing the Navibot robot vacuum in Europe, has now introduced another new robot vacuum that doubles as a home surveillance device, with video cameras that can be accessed from the Internet. Why hasn't iRobot done this?

The Samsung vac costs $684 and is only available in Korea for now.

Via Samsung Hub.

Samsung Navibot invades England, gets panned by editors of Which

Samsung Navibot

Samsung's Navibot, which retails for about $600 in the United Kingdom, is currently outselling Roomba models on Amazon's UK website. That's troubling. However, the Navibot did get panned By the editors of "Which" - basically the UK version of Consumer Reports. They said it didn't clean well enough and was expensive for what it did.

The YouTube video review is at this link.

A fairly impressive promo video is also accessible via YouTube.

The Navibot features a dual side brush design, a navigation and mapping system that relies on taking pictures of the ceiling (odd), virtual walls a la Roomba, a self charging dock, and straight line vacuuming a la Neato's XV-11.

So how come iRobot didn't figure out laser guidance for Roomba before Neato?

iRobot is the largest consumer robotics company in the world. It has hundreds of engineers, and a market cap near $500 million. So how come they didn't figure out laser-guided SLAM-mapping could work on a Roomba, and a startup in Silicon Valley did? Neato Robotics' success in building the first laser-guided consumer product, the XV-11 vac, is a classic tale of Apple-style can-do innovation, the kind that we haven't seen much of from iRobot lately as it has focused on getting its business lines and financial house in order.

The tale is a stunning one. To make its entire business model work, Neato managed to turn a $2,000 laser part into a part costing mere tens of dollars. It took them a few years, but they pulled it off. And now they have a very high barrier for iRobot to jump to get back in the game. It's not like there are any obvious solutions out there or they would have been found already. iRobot's own military division had invested heavily in laser mapping for robots, but for some reason -- presumably that $2,000 cost -- probably convinced Colin Angle that it was a dead end for consumer robots. (I wonder if Colin learned all too well the value of cutting costs in the making of the original $199 Roomba.) In tech products, you have to control costs, but you also have to dream big and deliver. Apple is the role model here, folks. And it's hard to be Apple. Every time you want to invest in an innovation effort with a years-long lead time, you've got money people pushing to pinch pennies. But it's been several years now since iRobot delivered a truly amazing device (the Scooba), and a botched rollout of that product and a lack of iRobot-owned stores to demonstrate its products, and continuing shortcomings of its robots in general have left room for competitors to come in and steal their lunch.

The Roomba 500 series was a major improvement over the previous generation Roomba, and the company has continued to tweak it and tweak it and tweak it to cut costs, improve reliability, etc. But where is the vision for this company for the future. Where is the wow factor? I don't want to be owning Hoover when Dyson comes in and steals their lunch, and I'm worried we are exactly at that point now.

Keep in mind, Neato now has a major competitive advantage -- cheap, reliable, patented 2D laser mapping -- that it can bring to other robots inside and outside of the home. For every future iRobot product in Angle's dreams, they have to ask themselves, can Neato trump us with a laser-guided version?

I don't know if Neato was ever in a mode where they were considering selling out to iRobot, but regardless, it's probably too late now to buy them up. I'm guessing Neato will have an IPO next year or the year after that could give them as much as iRobot has cash in the bank, and then the race will really be on. If they manage to sell just 100,000 vacuums in the next year, they will already be a $40 million company. And I think they are going to sell a lot more than that.

The one thing about this is that competition is good for the industry, and it can be good for iRobot by giving them a swift kick in the pants. The company has a big financial cushion right now, and demand for its Roomba products currently exceeds supply globally. It's time to innovate, lest they become the Motorola of home robots.

Tags: iRobot, Neato

Poll: How big a threat is Neato?

I'm taking a poll at Robot Stock News' main web site on how big a threat Neato Robotics' vacuum robot is to iRobot. Check it out, and vote.

Early Neato XV-11 Vacuum Reviews All 5 Stars at Amazon

Neato XV-11 on hardwood floor

The early reviews for the Neato XV-11 Vacuum Robot are all 5 Stars from customers at Amazon.com. Among the highlights, according to the reviewers who have also owned Roomba robots:
* The Neato's laser guidance and mapping system cuts down dramatically on the amount of time needed to vacuum a room.
* The vacuum is more powerful than the Roomba's.
And, in what could be the killer app —
* Hair gets sucked into the vacuum bin, rather than getting clogged in the roller brushes. On Roomba, this requires cleaning nearly every time you use it.

iRobot better get on the ball about the Neato threat because word-of-mouth marketing could quickly tilt the playing field in Neato's favor.

One caveat: Early reviews for high-tech gizmos, including Roombas, often start out at 5 stars but diminish over time as problems emerge with various parts months and years later, as batteries, motors, brushes et al are put to the test. It's hard to engineer a reliable robot. But I have yet to see a truly negative review of the Neato, or even one that says that it is decidedly inferior to the Roomba. Among the deficiencies seen in the Neato are the lack of a Roomba-style side-cleaning brush and the lack of virtual wall technology (unsightly black tape strips are used instead). My guess is that Neato tried hard to avoid running afoul of any of iRobot's patents, which include virtual wall technology.

Botjunkie has the most comprehensive geeky review I've seen to date. Evan Ackerman's review found two flaws with its cleaning capability — the lack of a bristle brush meant it had some difficulty getting hair out of carpet — an important feature for pet owners. (All Roombas have a bristle brush). And the square shape (and probably lack of a side brush) made its performance around table and chair legs iffy.

Tags: iRobot, Neato, Roomba, robot

iRobot, Roomba profiled in new book

The new business book Trade-Off by Kevin Maney uses the development of the Roomba by iRobot as an example of the tradeoffs in business development, and notes the key development of building a robotic vacuum under the $200 price point. Businessweek has an excerpt that runs down the history of Roomba in a way that will be old hat to longtime watchers of iRobot but could be of use to newbies.

Maney quotes iRobot CEO Colin Angle with his typical generic quote about seeing many opportunities for future robots in the home, and they will build them when they think they can get the costs down enough etc.

Telepresence Robots Profiled by New York Times

John Markoff at the New York Times profiled the emerging field of telepresence robots in today's paper.

Colin Angle is among the robot company CEO's quoted advocating for the technology (which he has tried and failed so far to commercialize for over a decade, I might add, with ConnectR the latest to go to an early grave).

Here's the nugget that I think iRobot sees as a sweet spot:

Others see the robots as a new means of mobility for the elderly, allowing them to stay in better contact with friends and family and visit museums and theaters, among other possible applications.
As technology advances, designers say, mobile robots will allow the elderly and others to do more than be in two places at one time. The robots will augment their human users, enhancing their senses by offering capabilities like better vision and hearing as well as futuristic skills like face recognition.

Tags: telepresence, robotics, iRobot, robot

TYZX provides iRobot with upgraded 3D vision for military robots

TYZX vision module

iRobot is steadily building up its capabilities for autonomous military robots, with the latest sign TYZX corporation's announcement last month that iRobot will use its DeepSea G3 Embedded Vision System (EVS) to provide 3D vision with depth perception in future robots.
TYZX, a Menlo Park, Calif., company owned in part by billionaire Paul Allen, introduced its vision system in October 2009. It's about the size of a hardback book, according to the company, while providing a stellar 60 frames per second of image processing power.
An earlier TYZX product, the G2, had been added to iRobot's PackBot and Warrior robots. But the new system has a host of improvements. Even cooler? iRobot is developing a system for detecting and following people autonomously. Now, if that's not straight out of the Terminator, I don't know what is. (I'll have more on this in another post).
The 3D system also makes it easier for robots to navigate through buildings and difficult terrain, and aids robot operators by providing them with better depth perception.

“TYZX solutions have proven they can provide the high-resolution, low-latency sensor data that are essential for autonomous military robots,” said Tom Wagner, Senior Vice President and Chief Technological Officer for iRobot. “For UGV applications, the TYZX G3 offers important benefits that were also offered by the G2, such as passive sensing, onboard processing and a lack of moving parts. The G3 offers additional advantages, such as higher resolution and frame rates, as well as lower latency and lower power. We look forward to making use of the G3’s robust capabilities.”
“With the Unmanned Systems marketplace clearly emphasizing greater levels of autonomy, real-time perception systems are playing an increasingly vital role,” said Ron Buck, President and CEO of TYZX. “iRobot is at the forefront of autonomous systems development. We’re very pleased that they selected the TYZX DeepSea G3 as the 3D vision solution for this important work.”

iRobot PackBot

A case study from TYZX's collaboration with iRobot on the G2, with an exhaustive review of the technology involved, is at this link. Among the key points is TYZX's contention that its passive stereo vision system has advantages over other technologies, like radar or laser vision, because those active technologies can be detected on the battlefield and tend to provide lower frame rates and 2D imaging and require moving parts. (I'll note iRobot is also doing research on combination radar/laser systems that allow robots to see through fog, etc.)

UPDATE: Sean in the comments wonders if person-following technology from Numenta, a company founded by the founder of Palm Inc., is part of TYZX's deal with iRobot...

thx, Potts
Tags: TYZX, 3D iRobot, robotics, military

Scooba $184.99 shipped new at Woot

(Update: EXPIRED). This is the best deal I've seen in a couple of years: a new Scooba 330 for $184.99 today only from Woot. (Until they sell out or midnight arrives). So hurry.

Tags: iRobot, Scooba

iRobot Research into Robotic Vision Yields Results

Brian Yamauchi, a top roboticist at iRobot, has published a paper on the success of the Daredevil project, which fused LIDAR laser vision with radar vision, allowing robots to switch to the best vision system on the fly. Using the ultra-wide-band radar, for example, the Daredevil-equipped iRobot PackBot can see through fog and snow.

Sweet.
Tags: iRobot, radar

DARPA funding iRobot plans for automated robots

Information Week reports that iRobot is one of a group of companies that are part of a four-year DARPA program to boost automation in military robots. Link is here. I'll have another post later today on another iRobot military research project, and this one is a bit creepy.

Tags: iRobot, robot