Robots to provide ’defense and security’ in Brazil for Papal Visit, World Cup Soccer, and the Olympics

May 15, 2013 Source: bostonglobe.com

Bedford’s iRobot Corp. said Wednesday that it has been awarded contracts totaling $7.2 million from the Brazilian government for robots that can help provide security as Brazil gears up for a World Cup soccer tournament, a scheduled papal visit this summer, and the 2016 Olympics.

The company makes several kinds of robots. Some, such as the Roomba vacuum-cleaning robot, are designed for home use by consumers. Another line is designed to let doctors interact with patients remotely. The company’s military and law-enforcement robots, meanwhile, can perform such tasks as battlefield reconnaissance and detecting explosive devices.

After big cuts in Pentagon spending, iRobot has generally been putting more emphasis on its nonmilitary robots.

[...]

Read the full article at: bostonglobe.com

Also by iRobot Corp.: SWARM

"Funded by DARPA, the central research and development organization for the Department of Defense, SWARM robots allow one user to easily control many robots. The user issues commands to just one robot; the robot disseminates the commands throughout the SWARM. Each robot carries out its individual mission autonomously, communicating with fellow SWARM members as needed to accomplish the collective goal, such as room mapping, object location and other coordinated tasks. ’ Source