Navy orders 110 small throwable unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) robots from iRobot
BEDFORD, Mass., 27 Aug. 2015.unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) experts at iRobot Corp. in Bedford, Mass., have received a $4 million order from the U.S. Navy for the company's model 110 FirstLook robots and accessories, company officials announced last week.
The rugged iRobot 110 FirstLook is a five-pound, compact and expandable robot that provides situational awareness, performs persistent observation, and investigates and manipulates dangerous and hazardous materials while keeping the operator out of harm's way.
FirstLook can integrate third-party sensors for handling hazardous materials, chemical-biological-nuclear materials, and to accommodate thermal imagers, iRobot officials say.
Users also can fit the small robot with the company's Small Lightweight Manipulator to interact with the environment.
"FirstLook is light enough and rugged enough to be thrown through a window or down a flight of stairs, and its capabilities are expandable with the addition of different payloads. We believe FirstLook is the most capable robot in its weight class," says Tom Frost, senior vice president and general manager of iRobot's Defense & Security business unit.
Related: Marines order 75 man-portable robots from iRobot for battlefield situational awareness
The iRobot company has delivered more than 5,000 of its defense and security robots to military and civil defense forces worldwide, company officials say. For more information contact iRobot online at www.irobot.com.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
