Roomba Maker to Develop DARPA’s ChemBot Morphing Robots

Last year DARPA began the search for a company that could develop robots capable of squeezing through small openings and returning to their original size, shape, and functionality on the other side. Like most of DARPA’s projects, the idea was way-out there. However, it appears that iRobot (the guys behind practical home robots like the Roomba vacuum and the Looj Gutter cleaner) have answered the call.

While it may seem weird that iRobot would work on such an ambitious project, it is important to point out that this is not the first time the company has been involved with a military device, and the type of robots they design make them as good a candidate as any. Whether they can actually pull it off or not remains to be seen, but they will have a brain trust at Harvard and MIT backing them up–so you never know. [Danger Room]