IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 5
NEWS
$280 Million
Robot Dustup
Some robotic face-offs take place in
gladiatorial arenas, others on pingpong-table-size soccer fields. Those
fought in courtrooms can be just as
much fun to watch, because sometimes
they come complete with dumpsterdiving private investigators, accusations
of planted evidence, erased computer
disks, shredded data CDs, and trade
secrets discussed in closed hearings.
That is the case in a recent dispute
between iRobot, in Burlington, Mass.,
known for its Roomba vacuum cleaner,
and a smaller rival, Alsip, Ill.-based
Robotic FX. iRobot has filed two
lawsuits against Robotic FX and its
founder and president, Jameel Ahed, a
former iRobot employee, alleging patent infringement and theft of trade
10
IEEE Spectrum | December 2007 | NA
secrets. The suits concern iRobot's
PackBot, a bomb-disposal robot widely
used in Iraq and Afghanistan. iRobot
accuses Robotic FX of using proprietary PackBot technology to create a
competing robot called the Negotiator.
Robotic FX denies the accusations and
says that the lawsuits are an attempt
to shut down a competitor that iRobot
now sees as a threat.
In August, the two companies
competed in a U.S. Army program
called xBot, whose goal is to procure a
smaller, lighter type of bomb-detection
robot than those currently used in Iraq.
The Army plans to deploy up to 3000
of the new robots in the next five years
as part of efforts to counter improvised
explosive devices (IEDs), which are
www.spectrum.ieee.org
RobotIc FX
Roomba maker accuses military contract winner
of stealing trade secrets
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Spectrum December, 2007
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - Cover1
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - Cover2
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 1
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 2
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 3
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 4
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 5
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 6
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 7
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 8
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 9
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 10
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 11
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 12
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 13
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 14
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 15
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 16
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 17
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 18
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 19
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 20
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 21
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 22
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 23
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 24
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 25
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 26
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 27
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 28
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 29
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 30
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 31
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 32
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 33
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 34
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 35
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 36
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 37
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 38
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 39
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 40
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 41
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 42
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 43
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 44
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 45
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 46
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 47
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 48
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 49
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 50
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 51
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - 52
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - Cover3
IEEE Spectrum December, 2007 - Cover4
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