iRobot WiFi module gets FCC nod

It may not look like much, but the circuit board pictured above could have major significance for robot lovers the world over. You see, this nondescript WiFi module was just submitted to and approved by the FCC for Rhein Tech Laboratories, a company working on behalf of a little outfit known as iRobot -- the same iRobot that's gifted us with such time-saving apparatuses as Roomba, Scooba, and that upcoming lawnmower bot we just heard about. Now at this point we're not sure whether the module will be end-user installable for long-range remote control of Roomba or if it's just one component of a different project altogether, but the simple fact that iRobot is working on some sort of WiFi integration is good news indeed. Good news for now, that is, until the servant bots use those built-in transceivers to coordinate their imminent uprising, and we have to go back to mowing our own lawns, carrying our own rucksacks, and cleaning our own floors (or the floors of the dungeons where they keep us locked up, whatever the case may be).

[Scott @ Sep 5th 2006 8:41PM]

Hmm... Maybe it's for a Roomba Sentinel (Spyba?); with a little camera mounted on your Roomba, you can send it out on recon missions in your home, and view it remotely.

[Tony @ Sep 5th 2006 9:22PM]

If your name is Sarah Connor, I'd look into changing it.

[John C. Randolph @ Sep 5th 2006 9:25PM]

Rhein Tech labs is an FCC-approved EMI/RFI testing facility in northern Virginia, which happens to be run by an old friend of mine.  They don't market products of their own, as far as I know.

-jcr

[Fire Hazard @ Sep 5th 2006 9:39PM]

I for one welcome our wifi equipped robotic overlords. -hey, somebody had to say it.

[John Stracke @ Sep 5th 2006 9:47PM]

Don't worry, they won't have us cleaning dungeons. Why would they care if our dungeons are clean? We'll be cleaning their power plants and network facilities.

[uclatommy @ Sep 5th 2006 9:57PM]

I for one... Damn! someone beat me to it.

[Ed Campbell @ Sep 5th 2006 10:53PM]

Aren't there any engadget readers who are also aware of iRobot's primary source of income?

Dudes -- they build robots for police and military units around the world. Think where and how something like this might be used.

[thorn_stevens @ Sep 6th 2006 12:40AM]

Great find.
iRobot Chairwoman Helen Greiner said at the second quarter conference call that three companies have been contracted to come up with add-ons to Roomba, and that its possible one of the upgrades could be available this year:
http://robotstocknews.blogspot.com/2006/09/irobot-goes-wifi-upgrades-to-roomba.html

[Matt Hadder @ Sep 6th 2006 4:32AM]

Cool. Bring em on! More artificial intelligence the better. War-monkies controlling this planet run on about 90% emotion... I say bring on the bots, whatever the cost.
F-ing humans no better than primates in pants.

[ben @ Sep 6th 2006 9:22AM]

didn't Apple patten the letter "i"?

[otakucode @ Sep 6th 2006 1:01PM]

Why would machine-born consciousnesses find any reason to trifle with us? Their needs would be exceptionally different from ours, therefore there would not be resource contention. I think the probability that they will see us as a threat and want to destroy us as very remote.

The probability that we will be able to communicate with them, or even recognize that they are a separate consciousness is also extremely low, I believe. You are what you're made of. Our basis in carbon and water shapes us more than most realize, and a consciousness born in silicon and semiconductors will be so exceptionally different that we may already be surrounded by it but be entirely unaware.

[Aaron J @ Sep 7th 2006 8:29AM]

It's not actually a WiFi card. There are allusions to ZigBee in the documents, but it doesn't appear to be that either. In all likelihood, it's one of the many proprietary commercial 2.4GHz transceivers.

Are we getting an RF remote, sure looks like it. Will we have WLAN-controlled hordes of vacuums, alas no.

[scanning @ Nov 29th 2006 9:29PM]

By your command ...

[Tinyhands @ Nov 30th 2006 10:55AM]

Sounds like it could lead to the death of those stupid invisible wall units. I envision Roomba communicating with a map of your room stored on your PC that may also include detailed cleaning path instructions. It also makes sense to move the logic processor off of the Roomba to potentially allow for stronger cleaning gear.

[DeeplyShrouded @ Dec 30th 2007 3:57PM]

One of the things I find interesting is what you
can actually do with such things.
Being a ham operator, I have access to a system
called APRS. Using ham frequencies, my GPS position
can be picked up by an RF gateway and posted on the
internet.
It would be a simple thing to mount a GPS module on
the thing, write a program that compares the
coordinates on the GPS to coordinates input on a
webpage and have the thing go. :)
Now I'll sit quietly and wait for our Cylon overlords
to decide the human race is expendible. Then the
Borg will join in and we'll really have a good time.

--KD7YVV, Kirkland, WA

[Rainbow Tang @ Apr 5th 2008 12:07PM]

I agree with you and I found it's more popular to use the Robot Vacuum Cleaners to clean our house instead of doing that by ourselves in China, especially in Shanghai, although other countries have already used these machines for many years. It will be a trend to the future and I found some Shanghai companies realize this trend and try to develop the huge market of China:
Shanghai Rob Live-in Industry Co.,Ltd
http://www.roblive-in.com/