iRobot 2009 Annual Report Download - page 37

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Form 10-K
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements
of historical facts contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including statements regarding our future results
of operations and financial position, business strategy, plans and objectives of management for future operations,
and plans for product development and manufacturing are forward-looking statements. These statements involve
known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or
achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied
by the forward-looking statements. We discuss certain of these risks in greater detail in the “Risk Factors” section
and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Also, these forward-looking statements speak only as of the date
of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, and we have no plans to update our forward-looking statements to reflect
events or circumstances occurring after the date of this Annual Report. We caution readers not to place undue
reliance upon any such forward-looking statements.
iRobot, Roomba, Scooba, iRobot Dirt Dog, PackBot, Warrior, Looj, Verro, Create, Negotiator, Virtual Wall,
Home Base, and AWARE are trademarks of iRobot Corporation.
Overview
iRobot Corporation (“iRobot” or the “Company” or “we”) designs and builds robots that make a difference.
For over 20 years, we have developed proprietary technology incorporating advanced concepts in navigation,
mobility, manipulation and artificial intelligence to build industry-leading robots. Our Roomba floor vacuuming
robots, Scooba floor washing robots and Looj gutter cleaning robot perform time-consuming domestic chores. Our
PackBot and Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle (SUGV) tactical ground military robots perform battlefield
reconnaissance and bomb disposal. Our Negotiator ground robot performs multi-purpose tasks for local police
and first responders. Our Seaglider unmanned underwater robot performs long endurance oceanic missions. We sell
our robots to consumers through a variety of distribution channels, including chain stores and other national
retailers, and through our on-line store, and to the U.S. military and other government agencies worldwide. We
maintain certifications for AS9100 and Capability Maturity Model Integration, or CMMI. These certifications
enable us to service our military products and services.
Since our founding by roboticists who performed research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, we
have accumulated expertise in all the disciplines necessary to design and build durable, high-performance and cost-
effective robots through the close integration of software, electronics and hardware. Our core technologies serve as
reusable building blocks that we adapt and expand to develop next generation and new products, reducing the time,
cost and risk of product development. For example, our proprietary AWARE Robot Intelligence Systems enable the
behavioral control of robots. Our AWARE systems allow our Roomba floor vacuuming robot to clean an entire floor
while avoiding obstacles and not falling down stairs, and also allow our PackBot robots to accomplish complex
missions such as waypoint navigation and real-time obstacle avoidance.
Our significant expertise in robot design and engineering, combined with our management team’s experience
in military and consumer markets, positions us to capitalize on the growth we expect in the market for robot-based
products. We believe that the sophisticated technologies in our existing consumer and military applications are
adaptable to a broad array of markets such as law enforcement, homeland security, commercial cleaning, elder care,
oil services, home automation, landscaping, agriculture, construction and other vertical markets. Our strategy is to
maintain a leadership position in pursuing new applications for robot solutions by leveraging our ability to innovate,
to bring new products to market quickly, to reduce costs through design and outsourcing capabilities, and to
commercialize the results of our research, much of which is government funded.
Over the past seven years, we sold approximately 5 million of our home care robots. We also sold during that
time more than 2,900 of our PackBot tactical military robots, most of which have been sold to the U.S. military and
deployed on missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.
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