iRobot Gets Revenge On Former Employee By Selling His Stolen Robot Design

The story between iRobot and former employee Jameel Ahed has everything: military robots, betrayal, lies, stolen plans, lawsuits, big money, private investigators and destroyed evidence. But up until now there was one critical element missing…revenge. iRobot has completed that final act in this real-life drama by stealing back the “Negotiator” robot that Ahed made with their stolen plans and marketing it to police forces and other safety organisations around the country.

iRobot also plans on selling the Negotiator for US$20,000 apiece–a fraction of the price Ahed was going to get from the military for the project (although the version has been significantly stripped down). The cheaper versions will be equipped with a video camera and little else–just enough to help small scale police forces scout potentially dangerous situations.

In the end, iRobot executive Joe Dyer is excited about selling the Negotiator: “We always loved the design and the morphology. It’s our design.” Hahaha…snap. [Danger Room]