IRobot awarded $3.3M to build new DARPA robot

By Mass High Tech Staff

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The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the U.S. Army Research Office have given iRobot Corp. a $3.3 million, multi-year contract to create Chemical Robots (ChemBots) for use in unmanned urban search and rescue and reconnaissance work.

The ChemBots, to be developed by a team of Harvard University and MIT researchers, will have the advantage of a flexible material structure that enables maneuvering through openings smaller than its own at-rest dimensions.

DARPA has previously awarded iRobot contracts for its LANdroids communications robot in March and a series of contracts for its PackBot tactical mobile robot beginning in 1998.

Bedford-based iRobot (Nasdaq: IRBT) was founded in 1990 by MIT robotics researchers and now employs about 370 workers. During 2007, the company posted net income of $9.1 million on revenue of $249.1 million.

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