BURLINGTON, Mass., 6 October 2006. iRobot Corp. has designed an advanced communications capability to provide its military robots with greater tactical flexibility in the field.
The Adaptable Communications Payload enables communication between robot operators and the iRobot PackBot on different radio frequencies, facilitating reliable operations at longer ranges in today's battlefield environment.
The Adaptable Communications Payload is expected to be available in 2007.
The company is also developing enhanced capabilities for the Adaptable Communications Payload, which are expected to be released in late 2007.
iRobot is currently collaborating with Harris Corporation to provide NSA-certified, Type 1 military communications via the Adaptable Communications Payload. The companies have demonstrated control of PackBot robots via the Harris SecNet-11 Plus secure wireless LAN technology for military customers.
In addition, iRobot and Innovative Concepts Inc. are creating a technology that will allow multiple robots to form an ad hoc communications network, which will enable the robot to locate and re-establish communications with other out-of-range robots.
