New Reconnaissance Robot
ST. LOUIS, April 23, 2007 - Boeing and iRobot Corp. today announced they have signed a teaming agreement to design and develop a next-generation, small unmanned ground vehicle (SUGV) called the SUGV Early. The vehicle will provide military, civil and commercial users with unprecedented reconnaissance and secure, real-time intelligence capabilities. The SUGV Early will be a smaller, lighter version of the iRobot PackBot, which is used daily in Iraq and Afghanistan to safely disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) and search buildings, caves and tunnels for hostile forces. To date, iRobot has delivered more than 900 PackBot robots to a broad range of military and civilian customers worldwide.
The robots have performed tens of thousands of missions in Iraq and Afghanistan and are credited with saving soldiers' lives.
The remotely operated and highly maneuverable SUGV Early will feature a video camera and commercial electro-optics, infrared sensors mounted on an articulated manipulator arm and a track-driven chassis that will allow it to negotiate rough terrain and stairs. The 30-pound backpackable unit is designed for use in a wide range of hazardous situations, such as bomb disposal and disaster relief operations.
The system, which utilizes commercial off-the-shelf technology and employs the basic design of future networked robotic systems currently under development for the U.S. Army, will be ready for delivery in 2008.
Under the agreement, Boeing will provide expertise in systems integration, large volume production and global marketing, while iRobot will design, develop and manufacture the robots. Boeing and iRobot will jointly offer these commercial robots to all U.S. Department of Defense, civil and international markets.
iRobot is a provider of robots that perform dull, dirty or dangerous missions in a better way. The company's proprietary technology, iRobot AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems, incorporates advanced concepts in navigation, mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence. This proprietary system enables iRobot to build behavior-based robots, including its family of consumer and military robots.
For additional information about iRobot, please visit their website.
That's not to be confused with the movie I, Robot...
posted by camojack | 07:42
10 Comments:
You never fail to bring us the odd and unusual while entertaining and informing. Today's offering is a fine example of all of those.
Thanks!
I see that I'm here with all my friends...sigh!
That's way cool! I've been wondering when we were gonna start getting all those things the Jetsons had...
That's not to be confused with the movie I, Robot...
or more importantly the book by Isaac Asimov, from which the movie was very loosely drawn...
boberin:
I do my best...but not many seem to notice.
Beerme:
Very loosely is right; I've read all of Asimov's "Robot" series...
What I think is really cool... It climbs stairs...
Us loyal reader notice and appreciate the effort!
JR:
State-of-the-art, baby!
boberin:
I noticed that you put that in the singular; I'm sure that was intentional, too...
Sorta reminds me of this guy... but he ain't quite as debonaire.
(:D) Regards...
P.S.-- Glad to see that your blog is back to its former stylish self!
Hawkeye®:
Johnny 5!!! There is a resemblance, huh? Short Circuit was a cute movie.
As for the blog's "former stylish self", I had to play around with the template; I was forewarned by another fellow blogger that it might be a problem when I did the conversion to the "new" blogspot. He was right...
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