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What's Next For iRobot?
An anonymous reader writes "Ten years since the debut of the Roomba vacuum cleaner and military PackBot, robots are mainstream but still not in every home. Meanwhile, a new generation of robotics companies is taking off. Where does that leave iRobot, the godfather of the field? With its military business taking a hit from the U.S. defense budget, the 22-year-old public company is looking to reinvent itself with new kinds of robots, including a telepresence machine for doctors and hospitals and, further down the road, inflatable robots that could be cheaper, safer, and more portable than their metallic predecessors. The question is whether these new machines will be successful enough to keep the company growing — and add to its legacy in robotics."
$14.52. What does that have to do with anything?
He was testing your Internet research skills. You win this round.
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... with the inflatable robots.
They need to design hunter-killer pest control robots next. Why bother fogging your apartment with deadly pesticides when you can let a few (roach/bedbug/beetle/spider)-hunting bots loose for targeted annihilation?
Yes, I know, "What could possibly go wrong?"
Everything is better with chainsaws.
Agreed. I have a roomba that rarely goes out of it's cradle. It's just not smart enough to maneuver around the dozens of obstacles in the basement here. It does OK upstairs were there is more furniture and less 'stuff' - it's great under beds and sofas - but a quiet, smarter Roomba that doesn't choke on Labrador Retriever fuzz would be another sale. I like the idea, just doesn't quite work.....
Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
Should have asked about Maxim semiconductor stock price for a real "jeopardy style" research project.
See they bought dallas semiconductor, who sold a whole line of "i-products" back when apple still meant an apple2-gs.
The iButton was like a 256 byte (byte, not kilo or mega or giga byte, just byte) one wire interface storage device. They had a whole herd of one-wire devices. Basically the one wire was really one wire plus ground and it was kind of like sneaking power for I2C off the data bus. Thats a good research question.
Also its a pessimistic outlook... onewire went nowhere and its pretty much gone now. Insinuating that irobot is going the way of the ibutton.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm FLAILING TUBE MAN!!
Um, AC, I donno how to say it, but that tube... um... its not an arm... I think the robot likes you.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Now, if only it could cook....
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
The one-wire bus is actually three wires. Ground, power+data, and a seperate power wire. The latter is technically optional, but if you want to get a signal to reliably go more than a few meters you're going to need it. I use one-wire temperature sensors to monitor the temperature throughout my house, a relic of an old computerised heating project that never saw completion.
I know that there is another company that has long made a Roomba-like lawn mower. It uses buried wires, much like the invisible fence many pet owners use. It would be awesome to have one that eliminates the wires by using GPS and other location technologies to let you map out the area to be mowed.
I have a 550 "Pet edition" Roomba, and it works great. I have a single cat (who admittidly doesn't shed that much compated to most cats). I have to clean out the rollers every once an a while, but it's still better than actually vaccuuming. While it can't get into a few areas (behind the garbage can is a big one) it generally works great. I think it does a better job than me (because I don't take any time to move anything).
The biggest problem I have with it is that when it decides that it is done a room, it tends to hide. It might be under the middle of the bed, or tucked under the sofa in the back corner, but it's rarely in a spot where I don't have to get on my belly to retrieve it.
I named mine Saul after Saul Goodman. Better call Saul!
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a relic of an old computerised heating project that never saw completion
So you had a bunch of Pentium 4 systems laying around? My P4 laptop kept me warm through cold winter nights.
Look at Kodak. It's nearly dead, but no one seems to care.
We film photographers do. Both of us.
Place nail here >+
I have the 570, and love it. I've replaced parts along the way, but it runs at least 3 times a week, every week, and keeps my floors spotless. It runs while I'm out of the house, and I only have to empty it once a week or so. The main work to do is to keep stuff off of my floor so it doesn't get stuck, but that helps keep my place tidy.
It broke a little while back, and while waiting for the part I had to pull out my old vacuum. That was a terrible experience after having a Roomba for a couple of years now. Btw, your issue of never it finishing out in the open, while exactly true, is not a problem if you have the remote for it. Took me a few times of crawling under the bed to realize that.