for other uses see i robot disambiguation . this article s lead section may not adequately summarize key points of its contents . please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article . please discuss this issue on the article s talk page . january 2013 irobot corporation type public traded as nasdaq irbt industry robots founded 1990 founder rodney brooks colin angle and helen greiner headquarters bedford massachusetts u.s.a key people rodney brooks founder colin angle founder ceo chairman helen greiner founder products domestic robots military robots revenue 487.4 million usd 2013 1 operating income 32.6 million usd 2013 1 net income 27.6 million usd 2013 1 total assets us 416.3 million 2013 1 total equity us 330.7 million 2013 1 number of employees 528 2014 2 website www.irobot.com irobot headquarters in bedford a roomba 780 irobot corporation is an american advanced technology company founded in 1990 by three mit graduates who designed war robots . incorporated in delaware the company builds robots such as military and police robots such as the packbot along with a range of autonomous home vacuum cleaners roomba floor moppers braava and other autonomous cleaning solutions . 3 irobot is a public corporation based in bedford massachusetts . contents 1 history 2 military and policing robots 2.1 first generation robots 2.2 packbot 2.3 sugv 2.4 warrior 2.5 r gator 2.6 negotiator 2.7 transphibian 2.8 chembot 2.9 ember 2.10 airarm 2.11 firstlook 3 medical robots 3.1 rp vita 4 research and dual role robots 4.1 ranger 4.2 seaglider 5 home robots 5.1 roomba 5.2 scooba 5.3 braava 5.4 create 5.5 verro 5.6 looj 5.7 discontinued products 5.7.1 dirt dog char 5.7.2 my real baby jade 5.7.3 connectr 6 in development 6.1 robotic lawn mower 7 see also 8 references 9 external links history edit irobot was founded in 1990 by rodney brooks colin angle and helen greiner after working in mit s artificial intelligence lab . in 1998 the company received a darpa research contract which led to the development of the packbot . in september 2002 irobot unveiled its home robots flagship the roomba which sold a million units by 2004 . 4 irobot began being traded on the nasdaq in november 2005 under ticker symbol irbt . on september 17 2012 irobot announced that it had acquired evolution robotics manufacturer of automated floor mopper mint . 5 irobot has sold more than 8 million home robots and has deployed more than 5 000 defense & security robots as of 2012 . 6 in addition to deployment as bomb disposal units with the us military in iraq and afghanistan packbots have been used to gather data in dangerous conditions at the fukushima daiichi nuclear disaster site 7 and an irobot seaglider detected underwater pools of oil after the deepwater horizon oil spill . 8 irobot has been criticized for attempting unregulated use of 6240 6740 mhz band and asking for an fcc exemption to do so . this band is for use for the lawn mowing robot without needing to use an electronic fence as a boundary marker instead by using radio beacons . the band falls into a band reserved for radio astronomy use thus interfering with radio telescope observations of methanol s 6.66852 ghz emissions . 9 in february 2016 irobot announced that it would sell its military robotics business to arlington capital partners in order to focus more on the consumer market . 10 military and policing robots edit a packbot scout robot shown with its second pair of treads in the horizontal position . this robot is conducting search and rescue at ground zero after the 9 11 terrorist attacks . in april 2016 irobot sold off its defense & security unit with a new company being formed called endeavor robotics . 11 first generation robots edit genghis 1991 was irobot s first robot . it was designed as a test platform for researchers . the robot is currently at the smithsonian air and space museum ariel 1996 is a crab like robot designed to remove mines both in and out of water . urbie 1997 was a proof of concept robot designed for urban environments . the platform was designed with two tank like tracks so it could climb stairs . urbie was field tested at fort benning georgia united states ; one model was gifted to a local high school on indefinite loan in 2005 . high school students at columbus high school in columbus ga reconditioned the robot and created a usage manual for future students to continue to benefit from urbie s list of talents . urbie is built around a light machined aluminum chassis . the exterior consists of flat aluminum plates bent at the front and back which are attached to the chassis with small hex screws . 2 dc motors power the forward rotating arms while 2 slightly larger dc motors power the body length treads . from the outside urbie is an exact replica of the packbot scout . the front compartment holds 2 banks of leds one white light the other infrared . the center front compartment holds a video camera and an infrared camera . both cameras images are transmitted back to a handheld lcd screen and remote control console via a single antenna . the image that is transmitted back is controlled by a mechanical switch thrown remotely inside the chassis by a remote controlled actuator . the motors are controlled the same way that a remote control airplane or car is . the ability to reverse the tread direction on both sides gives the robot a 0 degree turn radius . in 2006 the exterior body was refinished the antennas were repaired replaced by a fishing pole and some of the interior electronics were updated . the robot is simply constructed with basic electronic controls and is the same physical design as the current packbots it only lacks the digital processor . swarm is an artificial intelligence research project designed to develop algorithms for swarms of hundreds of individual robots . this project is sponsored by darpa . packbot edit main article packbot packbot is a series of military robots designed for situational awareness reconnaissance explosive ordnance disposal and other missions . more than 2000 packbots are currently on station in iraq and afghanistan with hundreds more on the way . 12 sugv edit main article small unmanned ground vehicle irobot s platform for the united states army s future combat systems . warrior edit main article irobot warrior warrior currently in development expected deployment in 2008 13 is a 250 lb 110 kg machine that can travel up to 12 miles per hour 19 km h through rough terrain and up and down stairs while carrying payloads weighing over 100 pounds 45 kg . its potential uses include bomb disposal battlefield casualty extraction and firefighting . 14 r gator edit main article irobot r gator r gator a product of a partnership with john deere corporation is a small utility vehicle with a robotics package added . it is capable of autonomous operation including waypoint following with obstacle avoidance following dismounted infantry and other vehicles and semi autonomous operation such as teleoperation with obstacle avoidance . vehicles are currently in production . 15 16 negotiator edit main article irobot negotiator negotiator is a man portable civil response surveillance and reconnaissance robot . 17 transphibian edit main article irobot transphibian transphibian is a man portable uuv and bottom crawler that autonomously inserts itself into the water and operates in a shallow area . it is designed for mine detection harbor defense and surveillance . 18 chembot edit chembot is a darpa funded prototype of a shape shifting robot without motors wheels or any rigid elements . it runs on chemical power and is made using dielectric elastomers which are extremely flexible and can alter their shape in electric or magnetic fields . ultimately the program aims to build a robot that is completely squishy and able to squeeze through a hole the size of a 10 pence coin . 19 ember edit ember is a prototype miniature tracked robot weighing around 1 lb and costing so little to make that it is intended to be virtually disposable . ember moves at walking pace can right itself when it is turned over and is controlled by a simple touchscreen application on an apple iphone . ember is a military robot designed to boost radio communications and capture video footage to aid infantry warfighters . 19 airarm edit airarm is an inflatable arm robot developed by irobot . the inflatable arm uses pumps to inflate the arm . since the arm uses strings and actuators no motors were used at the joints . 20 firstlook edit firstlook is a small reconnaissance robot weighing 5.2 lb 2.4 kg with a top speed of 3.8 mph 6.1 km h and line of sight control range of 200 m 219 yd . it has visible and thermal cameras and infrared sensors to gather and transmit images of buildings caves or other locations . it can participate in explosive ordnance disposal by carrying 2.5 lb 1.1 kg of c4 explosive to an ied . the robot has the ability to mesh together a network of feeds from other robots to extend the range of its sensors . the firstlook has cbrn detectors and is semi autonomous meaning it can perform tasks like course correction and flipping itself over without direct intervention . 100 were bought by jieddo in march 2012 and the pentagon has ordered hundreds more . 21 medical robots edit rp vita edit rp vita or remote presence virtual independent telemedicine assistant is a medical robot jointly produced with intouch health . the robot will be cloud connected and have access to a patient s medical record and will also be able to plug in diagnostic devices such as stethoscopes otoscopes and ultrasound . 22 research and dual role robots edit ranger edit main article irobot ranger ranger is a man portable uuv that supports technology development related to mine warfare expeditionary warfare homeland defense underwater surveillance reconnaissance and other missions . ranger is also suitable for ocean research and commercial applications related to search and survey . 23 seaglider edit main article irobot seaglider seaglider is a long range dual role autonomous underwater vehicle entering production under an exclusive manufacturing agreement from the university of washington . capable of operating for months over thousands of kilometers on a single battery charge networked seagliders provide scientists and naval intelligence with cost effective real time access to oceanographic measurements . 24 25 the seaglider is also used in military applications where it is more usually designated as an unmanned underwater vehicle . home robots edit roomba edit main article roomba roomba is an automated vacuum cleaning robot first released in 2002 . roomba is powered by a rechargeable battery and many models are available with a docking station to which the roomba should return to recharge at the end of its cleaning cycle . they work in conjunction with accessories that use both ir and rf . the company intentionally allows customers to hack the robot because they want people to experiment and improve the product . the api for the serial has been published and the serial port made easily accessible to make modifications easy to perform . 26 scooba edit main article scooba brand scooba was irobot s floor washing robot . the product became commercially available in limited quantities in late 2005 before a full product release in 2006 . early models required either a special non bleach cleaning solution or white vinegar to wash hard floors . newer units could use plain water . several versions were marketed . irobot phased out the scooba line of products in favor of the braava line of floor moppers in 2016 . 27 braava