| iRobot Awarded Additional $14 Million from US Navy for Bomb ...
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ:IRBT) today announced a delivery order from the U.S. Navy to build additional bomb-disposal robots for shipment to the U.S. forces overseas. This latest award of $14 million from the Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) brings the total value of the orders placed to date to $66 million. Under the terms of the contract order, iRobot will deliver an additional 101 iRobot PackBot® Man Transportable Robotic System (MTRS) robots, plus spare parts to repair robots in the field. iRobot shipped the initial lot of PackBot robots for this order in late March 2007, and the company expects to deliver the remaining robots pursuant to this delivery order before Dec. 31, 2007. Under the terms of the previously existing Indefinite-Delivery/Indefinite-Quantity (IDIQ) contract, the military could order up to the full $264 million value in robots, spare parts, training and repair services.
Robot insects, aircraft worth buzz
Here are some of the latest examples of motion-themed toys integrated with a high-tech twist for the air and ground.
For the aeronautics fan, let's start with the Dragonfly ($49.99, requires six AA batteries) from WowWee, the company known for its RoboRaptor, RoboSapien and a creepy animatronic chimpanzee head.
Its latest creature features a durable carbon-fiber-based body and four 16-inch wings along with a rechargeable lithium polymer battery and radio frequencies to fly indoors and outdoors -- as long as you have plenty of clear space.
Making this big beast a real beauty are fluttering wings and a rear tail stabilizer rotor that works with a big-hands-friendly, two-channel digital remote to take flight for about 10 minutes.
Conversation with a Leader: Tom Milam
Tom Milam is general manager of AmMed Direct, a Nashville-based Medicare-approved provider of diabetes testing supplies. Milam has been with the company since 2002.
Formerly called Diabetes Direct and having changed its name in 2004, AmMed employs 210 people.
MHS Diabetes Direct LLC is the parent of AmMed Direct.
AmMed Direct recently moved its corporate headquarters. Your thoughts?
We've grown tremendously in the past four years, and we expect that growth to continue as we take advantage of the capabilities our new facility offers.
We had about 190 employees on board when we held our ribbon-cutting a month ago. That compares with 120 employees this time last year, and about 300 we hope to have by the end of this year.
USDA: Boosting Ethanol Production
Scientists with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Peoria, Ill., are excited about the latest member to join their team: a one-armed robot. They expect it to speed studies aimed at harnessing the power of proteins for industrial uses, such as making fuel ethanol from fibrous corn stover. The robot is the centerpiece of an automated system called the "plasmid-based functional proteomics work cell." According to Stephen Hughes, a molecular biologist with the ARS National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, the system is the first of its kind to fully automate several procedures that have traditionally been carried out by hand--human hand, that is. A short list of functions includes extracting genetic material from the cells of plants, microbes and other organisms; making DNA copies of genes; inserting the copies into Escherichia coli; culturing these bacteria so that the copies can be sequenced and their proteins identified; and inserting desirable genes into yeasts used to make ethanol.
Mrs. Julie Beaver named KHQA Excellent Educator
GOLDEN, IL -- We've all spent our fair share of days in front of a school chalkboard, trying to learn the lesson of the day in school. A teacher in Golden has turned to more of a hands-on approach. Mrs. Julie Beaver started a "Robot Boot Camp" at Central Middle School. It's an after-school program in which third and fourth graders build and program robots. KHQA's Rajah Maples checked it out and talked with the Excellent Educator who made it happen. It's hands-on, it's fun and it's educational. Welcome to "Robot Boot Camp" at Central Middle School. It's an idea Mrs. Julie Beaver came up and it's all volunteer. "We needed new ways to include hands-on learning and give the kids more opportunity outside the school day because with our state standards we're expected to do so much,'' said Beaver.
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