In what is pretty stunning news to me, iRobot has purchased Nekton Research for $10 million USD. The reason this is so stunning, is because Nekton is 30min down the road from me, and I've interviewed there! Nekton is a small business located in Durham North Carolina and specializes in unde
Autosub6000 being lifted from the water A 5.5m long, 6,100 lb robotic submarine called the Autosub6000 (I wonder if there was a 5000) is getting ready to explore the depths of the Cayman Trough in the Caribbean. The Cayman Trough, which you may remember from the film, The Abyss, has never been exp…
Don't forget that the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International's 11th Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition is taking place this weekend in San Diego, CA. This year's theme is "Underseas 11" and will feature gambling themed tasks, such as grabbing a sack of…
The US Department of Defense (DoD) has released a report detailing the future of robotic military equipment and how the US military should proceed. The 188 page report (pdf) covers the next 25 years of unmanned military systems in the air, and sea, and on land. “The publication of this mos…
Ah, back home to North Carolina where the tea is sweet (very sweet) and the humidity makes it feel 15 degrees hotter. As promised, I'm here to provide closure to NCSU's journey to San Diego. And, no, we didn't place in the competition. We were so very close - one of the top contenders actually…
