iRobot Negotiator is a tactical bot for those mean suburban streets

There's a new iRobot in the wings, ready for that all-important cat-in-a-tree incident your neighborhood has been gearing up for over the past decade. Well, kind of. The new iRobot Negotiator is designed for "public safety organizations" who don't need or can't afford the $100k PackBot 510. The Negotiator is built to provide basic reconnaissance to police and fire departments and public safety professionals, with an optional "civil response kit" to enhance its spybot prowess and chemical detection capabilities. The Negotiator should start shipping in Q4 2008 for around $15,000, with accessories bumping that price up to $20k and giving it flippers to climb stairs.

Update: We just noticed that the iRobot Negotiator bears some, erm, striking similarities to the Robot FX Negotiator. If you'll remember, not only did iRobot win its lawsuit against Robot FX, it also bought up all of Robot FX's assets. Sounds like this is iRobot's shot at recouping some of those hefty court fees, but couldn't they have at least changed the name?

[OneLove @ Aug 6th 2008 10:42AM]

It will keep the mean streets clean.

[Samboini @ Aug 6th 2008 10:47AM]

That is what Batman is for, and he is free of charge. Bonus.

[Brent @ Aug 6th 2008 11:08AM]

Yeah, but will it clean my carpet?

[lukasz @ Aug 6th 2008 10:43AM]

I wonder whether you can mount a minigun on that thing.

[Matt @ Aug 6th 2008 11:02AM]

That would certainly help it live up to it's name.

"Drop your weapon. You have thirty seconds to comply."

[egloskerry @ Aug 6th 2008 3:04PM]

That's probably what the "civil response kit" consists of.

[Muhammed @ Aug 6th 2008 10:46AM]

crysis?

[Muhammed @ Aug 6th 2008 4:47PM]

Why is it whenever I say crysis it gets low ranked?!!!
I really wanna know!

[Lazerface @ Aug 6th 2008 10:23PM]

trust me, if you even have to say that, you already know...

[M.Samba @ Aug 6th 2008 10:47AM]

it's like a RC Car...that can kill you...

[EricR @ Aug 6th 2008 10:51AM]

15,000 doesn't afford much protection apparently. It isn't bulletproof.

[Zeth Ethereal @ Aug 6th 2008 10:52AM]

I can see Will Smith controlling it!

[Sam @ Aug 6th 2008 10:52AM]

No reference to the awesome movie with Kevin Spacey and Samuel L. Jackson?

[egloskerry @ Aug 6th 2008 3:02PM]

Or the one with Will Smith and Bridget Moynahan. Combine the two, and you have Spacey trying to talk down Sonny (the main robot in I, Robot) who is perfectly logical and cannot be talked down.

[olsonick @ Aug 6th 2008 10:52AM]

Streets man, for real.

[Don Corleone @ Aug 6th 2008 10:54AM]

It's a remote controlled armored toy. Not a Robot. boring...

[foxmcslick @ Aug 6th 2008 11:19AM]

It's a remote controlled toy that costs $20,000. But hey, when you're selling to the goverment, slap any price tag you like on it.

[Rocketboy @ Aug 6th 2008 3:22PM]

I bet your the same literal dolt that gets blue in the face with anger anytime someone calls a battlebot a robot as well.

[konshuss @ Aug 6th 2008 10:54AM]

ok so the iRobot is out but when do housewives get the Hancock home robot...

[papafew @ Aug 6th 2008 11:06AM]

a robot for a more safety world is like a wall in the desert

[Vianon @ Aug 6th 2008 11:16AM]

That's what your comment feels like as well...

[Skemo @ Aug 6th 2008 11:20AM]

Cause nothing strikes fear into criminals than the word "iRobot"

[michaelportent @ Aug 6th 2008 11:47AM]

I know nothing strikes fear into my lap dog more than the iRobot. Pugs are afraid of vacuums!

[ShadowKain @ Aug 6th 2008 11:29AM]

Can it flip itself back over if I kick it off the steps? XD

[iEye @ Aug 6th 2008 11:37AM]

What is the difference between this and the one they sell at Toys "R" Us?

one costs $19.99, and the other has a $19,980.01 black paint job...


ACTIVE DENIAL! torture my tax dollars out of those criminal low life leaches...

[Tina Darby @ Aug 6th 2008 11:55AM]

iRobot gun git yo ass, sucka!

[Billin @ Aug 6th 2008 12:04PM]

"Civil response kit" : I'm envisioning either a bean bag cannon / pepper spray hose combined with an extra robotic arm for giving people the finger

[barrett rogers @ Aug 6th 2008 12:30PM]

can we stop with the i when naming everything?

[getStringFromObj() @ Aug 6th 2008 12:59PM]

See mom, all those video game skills you kept saying I would never use paid off. Today, I got a job shooting people IRL with a robot for the LAPD.

[Nugent @ Aug 6th 2008 1:13PM]

iRobot has been around long before the iPod showed up and started the "iName" trend. Besides, its a play on the classic Asimov robot book, I, Robot.

As for the $100k price tag, apparently, this thing is designed to endure bomb blasts, so that might be part of it.

[Andrew @ Aug 6th 2008 2:54PM]

I always thought that would have been the iMac? Just maybe?

[Nugent @ Aug 6th 2008 3:12PM]

You're right, the iMac was out before the iPod. But iRobot was still around before that, they've been around since the early 90s. The iMac was introduced in the mid-to-late 90s.

[Rocketboy @ Aug 6th 2008 3:24PM]

Well, iRobot came out WAY before the iPod. Not sure about the iMac though, nor do I care enough to check. But as it's a reference to the book I Robot, well, they can get away with it all they want. It's not like they sell an iRoomba, and iScooba, or an iDirt Dog (or would that be an iDirt iDog?)

[CosterMonger @ Aug 6th 2008 4:42PM]

iMac: 1998
iRobot: 1990

[CosterMonger @ Aug 6th 2008 4:54PM]

if PackBot 510 cost $100000 how much would ED-209 cost?

[JimBob @ Aug 10th 2008 5:46PM]

They should test run the thing in Robot Wars