Monday, April 21, 2008

Latest Army order brings iRobot program to $63M

iRobot Corp. has landed a $6 million deal to supply unmanned robots to the U.S. Army, according to the Burlington robotics company.

Under the latest deal, iRobot will deliver 25 more small, unmanned ground-vehicle, or SUGV, robots for testing in the Army's Future Combat Systems Program. With the deal, iRobot has received a total of $63 million to date under the program.

The lead system integrators on the project are Boeing Co. and Science Applications International Corp. Future Combat Systems is an Army modernization program providing soldiers with manned and unmanned systems connected by a common network.

The SUGV robot is modeled after iRobot's PackBot, featuring a lightweight body that allows a soldier to carry and deploy the robot.

The SUGV is designed to enter and areas that are either inaccessible or dangerous for soldiers, and provide real-time intelligence.

iRobot reported a 2007 net income of $9.1 million on revenue of $249.1 million.