Irobot Research Paper

As robots have become more of a reality and less of movie magic, (see Brian Gair’s robotics essay) they have been put to the test in many ways. Recently, the United States military has been funding companies to develop unmanned drones and unmanned vehicles that can travel to places we can’t, or don’t want to, go. They even have exoskeletons they allow soldiers to carry more without the added stress. Many companies, even ones you wouldn’t expect, are making these military robots. iRobot, the company known for its autonomous vacuum, makes four remote controlled vehicles used for situational awareness, bomb control, hazmat operations, and many other things. Boeing is working on unmanned helicopters and recon planes. Even the British Army is developing

They started the company by designing a robot for space exploration in 1991. Over the next few years they worked on developing robots to eliminate mines in surf zones. That’s when DARPA started to notice them. 2 years later, 1998, they had the PackBot. Straight from the iRobot site, the PackBot is a modular, adaptable, and expandable robot. It can perform tasks like bomb disposal, recon, and surveillance. That sparked a big advancement for iRobot. They used the PackBot in the World Trade Center attack on September 11th, 2001. iRobot used this as steps to make more robots for uses with the military. The lightweight 310 SUGV was made for bomb disposal and ordnance disposal, vehicle inspections, explosive detection, building clearing, and much more. It weighs 30 pounds and can easily be carried by a soldier. Controlled by a small tablet, it is extremely versatile. You can just set it down and use it. Their next military vehicle is the 710 Kobra. This beast can lift up to 330 pounds. Like the SUGV, it can be used for explosives and vehicle inspection. But being such a beast, it can be used to remove debris. Its arm can reach up to eleven feet. It’s easily maneuverable and can even climb stairs. Also being controlled by a tablet, it can be driven up in a vehicle and deployed easily. Their final bot is small, but not to be misunderestimated. The 110

It was built to be able to walk just about anywhere and can adjust to just about anything. Being 240 pounds and just over 3 feet long, it’s surprisingly versatile. It can run about 4 mile per hour and can climb up to a 35 degree slope. This gyroscopic dog can haul about 340 pounds. It can even adjust to being kicked. The LittleDog is a smaller BigDog used for research on making the BigDog better. It’s not really for the military, but it was built using the DARPA grant. The SandFlea is by far the craziest thing I’m going to talk about. Built for who know why, it is an eleven pound robot that can jump 30 feet. With an onboard camera, it could be used for surveillance. The grant for this was funded by the US Army’s Rapid Equipping Force. It can jump onto buildings and can jump about 25 times on once single charge. Overall, that’s 750