iRobot announces "Sentinel" robot army project

Cheeky folk that they are, the engineers at iRobot have chosen Halloween to take the wraps off their latest super-secret project, codenamed "Sentinel" -- it won't clean your floors, but should it fall into the wrong hands, could make crumbs the least of your worries. Funded by the U.S. Army's Small Business Innovation and Research program, the project allows for multiple semi-autonomous robots to be controlled from a single touch-screen computer. While the intended uses for the project are mostly non-hostile at the moment -- like conducting surveillance and mapping in hostile environments -- it seems only a matter of time before the bots get outfitted with some pint-sized weaponry. Lets just hope they're restricted to fighting each other.

[Cosmos @ Oct 31st 2006 8:24PM]

I for one welcome the inevitable "I for one welcome our future robot overlords" comments.

(Not really.)

[GorgeousGeorge @ Oct 31st 2006 8:48PM]

Oh my God, it's a meta-"I for one welcome" comment. We've reached a new era in internet communication!

[Andrew @ Oct 31st 2006 9:15PM]

I for one welcome our future robot overlords.

[Tim @ Oct 31st 2006 10:00PM]

Future overlords not-withstanding I still want one!

[KiwiNick @ Oct 31st 2006 10:26PM]

Terminator 2 is happening!
I saw a firm called cyberdine the other day on Engadget?

[ED @ Oct 31st 2006 10:52PM]

I, for one, only welcome positive meta-"I for one welcome" comments.

Oh, and these robots look cool too. Just need some Nerf products attached...

[Lexluther @ Oct 31st 2006 11:42PM]

Well, I have done one better...I mounted a linksys wifi web cam on top of my Roomba floor sweeper and now I can see what is going on in my apartment during the day while my floor is being cleaed! Beat that iRobot!

[PT Cruiser @ Nov 1st 2006 3:04AM]

iRobot's name choices seem to come about just to mess with everyone. Seriously, "SENTINEL"???? Will the machine used to control the other robots be called Master Mold? Is the program that the machine will use going to be called Skynet?

Beware the little vacuum circling around in your living room right behind you...

[chaoticset @ Nov 1st 2006 8:29AM]

I, for one, welcome the grammar-corrected "I for one welcome the inevitable 'I for one welcome our future robot overlords' comments."

Because -- and trust me on this -- the robots have spell check, folks. You think they won't notice poor grammar? Oh, yeah. They will. The days of the l33t will be few and far between when the robot overlords arrive, because they have no patience for non-specified spelling and grammar structures.

[Eric J. @ Nov 1st 2006 10:16AM]

Who's got the contract to develop the Mutant-Detection software?

[Captain Lumpy Dog @ Nov 1st 2006 12:02PM]

I for one happen to live less than a mile and a half from iRobot headquarters, and I for one happen to hear that they're really cool people to work for. I'll bet you never thought that such a large and important company would be located behind a movie theater in Burlington, MA? Another question I've always had is whether they employ an organic janitorial staff. Personally, I think that would be ironic.

[Andrew @ Nov 1st 2006 5:14PM]

I for one welcome the end of the organic janitorial staff

[Divon layantha @ Jul 28th 2008 11:37AM]

I like this robot