Greg Galitzine : Robotics
Greg Galitzine

February 2012

You are browsing the archive for February 2012.

iRobot Secures 100th Patent

February 22, 2012

Answer: U.S. patent (U.S. 8,108,092)

Question: What is iRobot’s 100th patent, Alex?

Correct!

Bluefin Robotics to Jointly Develop UUV

February 22, 2012

Two companies are joining forces to develop a novel, next-generation submersible that will answer the US Navy’s call to come up with a solution featuring increased mission time, operational range and payload carrying capacity.

Battelle subsidiary Bluefin Robotics, which designs and manufactures Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and related technology, and The Columbia Group, a specialist with expertise in military undersea vehicles, diving systems, and shipboard launch and recovery systems have teamed up to deliver a dual-mode (manned and autonomous) vehicle currently named Proteus.

The Columbia Group currently is developing the hull mechanical and electrical systems for the project, and Bluefin is supplying advanced autonomy technology for use in unmanned missions. Bluefin will also contribute mission planning capabilities and the power solution.

ReconRobotics Wins Contract from US Army

February 16, 2012

ReconRobotics, Inc., has been awarded a $13.9 million contract for over 1,000 of its Recon Scout XT micro-robot kits from the U.S. Army. This is the largest order in the company’s history and, in terms of the number of units, it is also the largest micro-robot order ever issued by the U.S. Army ReconRobotics plans to complete deliveries on these orders by May 31, 2012.

“We are honored that the U.S.

Unmanned Drones to Share US Airspace by 2015

February 10, 2012

One of the more noteworthy news items this week, was the passage by the US Congress of a bill that will usher in a new era in the nation’s skies. The new bill will hasten the switch of the air traffic control system from the current radar-based system to one that relies on GPS.

Another element of the bill was the fact that Congress has authorized unmanned drones to share the same airspace as piloted commercial passenger airplanes.

The FAA will be required to provide military, commercial and privately-owned drones with expanded access to U.S.

Medical Robotics Firm Approaches European Milestone

February 9, 2012

Stereotaxis, Inc., manufacturer of the Vdrive Robotic Navigation System, an advanced cardiology instrument control solution, announced that it expects to surpass 500 clinical procedures in Europe before the current month is out.

Separately, Stereotaxis announced regulatory clearance from Health Canada to commercially market the device in Canada.

Since its introduction to the European market in 2011, the Vdrive system has been installed in nine centers, with units scheduled to be installed in additional centers during the first quarter of 2012. The initial nine centers have performed 473 clinical cases with approximately 80% being completed in the left atrium of the heart.

iRobot Announces Record Results

February 9, 2012

Apparently Roomba business is good business. iRobot Corp. has announced its financial results for Q4 and for the full year ended December 31, 2011 and the news is positive. In fact, it was a record year for the Bedford-Mass.-based robotics manufacturer.

According to an official company release:

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2011 increased 15 percent to $130.8 million, compared with $114.0 million for the same quarter one year ago.

N. Korea Arming 1970's-Era U.S. Drones?

February 6, 2012

According to a report published by South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, North Korea is allegedly developing a new attack capability by refitting U.S. target drones with the capacity to carry high-explosive payloads.

The news agency cited an anonymous South Korean intelligence report.

According to the source, “North Korea recently bought several U.S. MQM-107D Streakers from a Middle Eastern nation that appears to be Syria, and is developing unmanned attack aircraft based on them.”

iRobot Takes Minority Stake in Telemedicine Firm

February 1, 2012

Bedford, Massachusetts-based iRobot is expanding its relationship with Santa Barbara, California-based InTouch Health, a remote presence telemedicine solution provider by investing $6 million, which represents iRobot taking a minority position in the company.

Back in July 2011, the two firms announced a joint development and licensing agreement, which was established to explore opportunities for healthcare applications on iRobot platforms, such as the iRobot Ava mobile robotics platform.

InTouch Health provides telemedicine solutions and expertise designed to enable doctors to consult with patients in real-time, regardless of the distance between them. Using an online portal, doctors can access telemedicine devices from wherever they are located to provide care anywhere patients might be: homes, clinics, ambulances, and hospital procedure rooms and wards.

Robots? Cool. Swarming Flying Robots? Very Cool.

February 1, 2012

Whoa. If you harbor any fear of swarms of multiple robots flying in formation, avoiding obstacles, then this YouTube video might not be for you.

If on the other hand you think this is really fascinating and a great example of what the future holds, well then the video will be really, really cool.

The General Robotics, Automation, Sensing, and Perception (GRASP) lab at UPenn is conducting research using a series of nano quadrotors developed by KMel Robotics. Until now, the GRASP team had been able to showcase the robots flying "aggressively" meaning they could land on angled surfaces and navigate obstacles at high speed.