iRobot looks to "conquer underwater frontiers"

Bedford's iRobot Corp. today said that it signed a licensing agreement with the University of Washington that "will help our robots conquer new underwater frontiers."

The company makes PackBots, robots that can perform dangerous tasks on battlefields, and household robots such as the Roomba, which can do vacuuming chores.

Today the company announced a sole licensing agreement with UW TechTransfer at the University of Washington to commercialize Autonomous Underwater Vehicle, or AUV, Seaglider technology previously supported by the Office of Naval Research and the National Science Foundation. (An image of the Seaglider is at right.)

IRobot said in a press release: "Seagliders help civilian, academic, and military personnel make oceanographic measurements at a fraction of the cost of traditional research vessels or moored instruments. These long-range, high-endurance vehicles economize on energy consumption with a buoyancy-based propulsion system to support mission ranges of thousands of kilometers and deployments lasting up to several months. Instruments can be attached to the Seaglider to continuously collect oceanic physical properties across a range of depths and areas, providing valuable insights to oceanographers and military planners."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)