iRobot and Texas Instruments announce plans for a future full of OMAP-packing 'bots
iRobot, the Massachusetts-based maker of consumer and battlefield 'bots, announced a team up with TI this week. The partnership, sadly, doesn't mean we'll be seeing an army of autotuned DJ Roombas -- we will, however, likely be getting a slew of "intelligent and practical" robots packing Texas Instruments' multi-core OMAP technology. Remember those words the next time you hurl one through a window or get it to mop up the tiles around your toilet. No word on the nature of the products that will arise from such a deal, but they'll likely continue to do our bidding for a little while longer at least. Check out a minimalistic press release after the break.
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Texas Instruments and iRobot team up to shape future robotic innovation
Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) and iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in robotic technology-based solutions, today announced a partnership to develop robotic technologies using TI's smart multicore OMAP™ platform. The relationship stems from the companies' shared vision to create intelligent and practical robots capable of enhancing people's lives. The two companies will achieve this vision by leveraging iRobot's long history in advancing the field of robotics and TI's strength in applications processors and related technologies.
With two decades of leadership in the robot industry, iRobot is a proven technology leader in remote presence and automated home maintenance solutions. To date, iRobot has sold more than 7.5 million home robots worldwide, revolutionizing the way people clean both inside and outside the home. More than 4,500 combat-proven government and industrial robots have been delivered to military and civil defense forces worldwide, performing thousands of dangerous search, reconnaissance and bomb-disposal missions while protecting those in harm's way.
TI brings to the partnership the industry's leading applications processor technology captured in the OMAP™ platform-a high performing, ultra-power-efficient system-on-chip that's smaller than a dime. The OMAP platform's smart multicore architecture sends processing tasks to cores and engines that can best do the job using the least amount of power possible. TI complements this fundamental computing experience with several unique features, such as sophisticated image and video accelerators.
