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Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
Explore small cap ideas before they hit the headlines.
post links to desired content (if you have any).
so you are down >90%
at 0.0004 and need it to increase around twenty-five times from its current pps in order to reach your target?
considering the way mgmt treated (most) shareholders, imo the ticker should be CMFU
careful with that stock kermit...
Robot Caddy Packs Clubs, Stays Quiet
CoroWare Announces Board and Management Changes Board and Management Changes Emphasize Strategic Planning and Financing
July 07, 2008: 04:44 PM EST
CoroWare, Inc. (OTCBB: CROE) today announced that Gary McNear and Craig Conklin resigned from the Board of Directors effective immediately. In addition, Linda Robison resigned from her positions of Corporate Secretary, Interim Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Counsel. All of their valuable contributions to Innova Holdings and CoroWare during their tenures are sincerely appreciated by the Board of Directors and management.
"The Board of Directors and I thank Mr. McNear, Mr. Conklin and Ms. Robison for their many contributions and years of service to the Company," said Lloyd Spencer, Interim CEO of CoroWare, Inc.
Martin Nielson, who currently serves on CoroWare's Board of Directors, was appointed Interim Chief Financial Officer of CoroWare. In addition, Jon Mandrell, who serves as Director of the Robotics and Automation Business Unit at CoroWare Technologies, was appointed Corporate Secretary of CoroWare, Inc.
These changes will provide CoroWare's management team with a more streamlined planning process and greater guidance on strategic financing. CoroWare's focus will be on business opportunities with greatest benefit to shareholders.
About CoroWare
CoroWare Technologies, a subsidiary of CoroWare, Inc. (OTCBB: CROE), is a systems and mobile robotics integrator that delivers high value services and innovative solutions to maximize technology investments and achieve customers' goals. CoroWare has a depth of knowledge and breadth of experience in developing software and solutions for mobile service robotics and business automation through products that include the CoroBot product line. For more information, please visit www.coroware.com.
The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Except for historical information contained herein, the statements in this news release are forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause a company's actual results, performance and achievement in the future to differ materially from forecasted results, performance, and achievement. These risks and uncertainties are described in the Company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly release the result of any revisions to these forward-looking statements that may be made to reflect events or circumstances after the date hereof, or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events or changes in the Company's plans or expectations.
Press Contact:
Kami Noland
CoroWare
knoland@coroware.com
(800) 641-2676 x728
http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Coroware-Inc-876273.html
Robot Caddy Packs Clubs, Stays Quiet
By Bill Christensen
The Shadow Caddy robot is a remarkably simple technological answer to the problem of hauling your golf bag for eighteen (seemingly endless) holes.
The new golf robot is operated using a transmitter; once you start it up, the robot will follow you as long as you have the transmitter clipped to your belt.
Shadow Caddy has an infra-red collision-avoidance system to keep from running into you or other golfers. Apparently, it can also avoid such unfortunate mishaps as falling into a water hazard or sand trap. Take a look at the Shadow Caddy video, and judge for yourself.
Human caddies had better watch out; the Shadow Caddy is "guaranteed never to snicker if you three-putt or slice one out of bounds." Sometimes the lack of a feature is best; the robot has no speech capabilities at all.
Just look at all of the devices that are trying to do what this little Shadow Caddy robot does, but tack on endless other (mostly unnecessary) features; see the pictures of the fancy RoboPorter and the Matsushita porter robot both intended for use in airports to carry your bags.
I was also thinking that you could invent a golf bag that was itself an autonomous robot; see the new Live Luggage for walking through airports for inspiration.
http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=3548936&SiteID=1
here's your CFO
CFO
and here's your Wall.E
Wall.E
clippy, your posts are difficult to de-code.
are you sure about that?
well golfy, he also gets to pay off walt's million dollar SBA loan, why he should he spend another nickle on anything that has anything to do with Fort Liars? where exactly did the money from that SBA loan go? where did the ABB money go? you were there, cutting the checks, what happened to the cash?
he also gets to deal with all the lingering legacy costs from a greedy (dead) weisel!
good luck with that:
"I'd like to keep track of the insider ownership vs. total shares and the float figures ... if possible."
jt, the company does not care one bit what you would like to do or know. here's the essence of what was claimed when the stock was thousands of percent higher than it is now.
using shares sparingly to increase stockholders' value, create a more stable capital structure, and generate investor interest. "We looked at our capital requirement and decided it was a better value proposition to the Company and its stockholders to raise the money at a fixed price rather than relying on selling our stock into the market."
is that good news?
#2 OTCBB Biggest % Losers List
From $0.0001 – 0.01 that have traded minimum 1,000,000 shares
Symbols Company Name % Change $ Change Vol. Last Price
NSEOE NS8 Corp -50
-0.001
1,491,363 0.0010
INRA Innova Robotics and Automation Inc -35
-0.0014
1,695,000 0.0026
SYDI Syndication Inc -33.33
-0.0001
118,121,308 2.0E-4
IVIT Invicta Group Inc New -30
-0.0003
1,615,909 7.0E-4
WNYN Warp 9 Inc -28.57
-0.0008
2,320,830 0.0020
AVTI Avitar Inc -25
-0.0002
21,804,577 6.0E-4
XHUA Xinhua China Ltd -16.67
-0.001
2,299,078 0.0050
RDYM Remote Dynamics Inc -16.67
-0.0005
1,021,332 0.0025
TLPE Teleplus World Corp -16.67
-0.0003
5,750,233 0.0015
MBIR Mobiclear Inc -16.67
-0.0002
11,068,991 0.0010
QMNM Quest Minerals and Mining Ltd New -14.29
-0.0003
12,613,557 0.0018
AWYI Ariel Way Inc -11.76
-0.0004
2,628,300 0.0030
PCLIE Protocall Technologies Incorporated -6.67
-0.0005
1,468,133 0.0070
PTSH PTS Inc -5
-0.0001
4,881,150 0.0019
GGLB Green Globe International Inc -3.57
-0.0001
1,092,333 0.0027
#1 on the OTCBB net loser list...
OTCBB Biggest Net Losers
From $0.0001 – 0.01 that have traded minimum 1,000,000 shares
Symbols Company Name $ Change % Change Vol. Last Price
INRA Innova Robotics and Automation Inc -0.0023
-51.11 3,730,911 0.0022
GGLB Green Globe International Inc -0.0012
-30 1,088,234 0.0028
AVTI Avitar Inc -0.001
-41.67 28,100,870 0.0014
CXAC Cross Atlantic Commodities Inc -0.001
-37.04 4,686,614 0.0017
SCLLE Stem Cell Innovations Inc -0.001
-12.5 2,546,264 0.0070
SLON Salon City Inc -0.0005
-12.5 1,593,647 0.0035
IGPG Ignis Petroleum Group Inc -0.0005
-10 5,432,067 0.0045
WDAM World Am Inc -0.0004
-28.57 3,499,165 0.0010
AWYI Ariel Way Inc -0.0004
-14.29 18,300,807 0.0024
QMNM Quest Minerals and Mining Ltd New -0.0003
-11.11 17,913,123 0.0024
PMEDE Paradigm Medical Industries Inc -0.0002
-33.33 40,282,500 4.0E-4
AVNT Aventura Holdings Inc -0.0002
-28.57 1,100,000 5.0E-4
GRMU GREM USA New -0.0002
-14.29 6,680,332 0.0012
SWVC Seaway Valley Capital Corporation Inc -0.0002
-4.65 11,270,924 0.0041
IFDG International Food Products Group Inc -0.0002
-3.85 1,001,500 0.0050
JUNIE Juniper Group Inc -0.0001
-50 35,645,000 1.0E-4
SYDI Syndication Inc -0.0001
-33.33 22,804,353 2.0E-4
TRNPE Turnaround Partners Inc -0.0001
-20 1,715,000 4.0E-4
GCOG Gulf Coast Oil and Gas Inc -0.0001
-20 6,980,000 4.0E-4
UDTT Universal Detection Technology -0.0001
-14.29 28,633,722 6.0E-4
OTC:BB Biggest % Losers
From $0.0001 – 0.01 that have traded minimum 1,000,000 shares
Symbols Company Name % Change $ Change Vol. Last Price
INRA Innova Robotics and Automation Inc -51.11
-0.0023
3,730,911 0.0022
JUNIE Juniper Group Inc -50
-0.0001
35,645,000 1.0E-4
AVTI Avitar Inc -41.67
-0.001
28,100,870 0.0014
CXAC Cross Atlantic Commodities Inc -37.04
-0.001
4,686,614 0.0017
PMEDE Paradigm Medical Industries Inc -33.33
-0.0002
40,282,500 4.0E-4
SYDI Syndication Inc -33.33
-0.0001
22,804,353 2.0E-4
GGLB Green Globe International Inc -30
-0.0012
1,088,234 0.0028
WDAM World Am Inc -28.57
-0.0004
3,499,165 0.0010
AVNT Aventura Holdings Inc -28.57
-0.0002
1,100,000 5.0E-4
TRNPE Turnaround Partners Inc -20
-0.0001
1,715,000 4.0E-4
GCOG Gulf Coast Oil and Gas Inc -20
-0.0001
6,980,000 4.0E-4
AWYI Ariel Way Inc -14.29
-0.0004
18,300,807 0.0024
GRMU GREM USA New -14.29
-0.0002
6,680,332 0.0012
UDTT Universal Detection Technology -14.29
-0.0001
28,633,722 6.0E-4
SCLLE Stem Cell Innovations Inc -12.5
-0.001
2,546,264 0.0070
SLON Salon City Inc -12.5
-0.0005
1,593,647 0.0035
WLSI Wellstar International Inc -12.5
-0.0001
5,031,000 7.0E-4
MBIR Mobiclear Inc -12.5
-0.0001
14,659,834 7.0E-4
QMNM Quest Minerals and Mining Ltd New -11.11
-0.0003
17,913,123 0.0024
IGPG Ignis Petroleum Group Inc -10
-0.0005
5,432,067 0.0045
here's the "before" image...
click the pics golfer...
how many dollars went toward this?
made the death drop list (again)
SYMB Last Chg G D Pressure Volts Watts Speed Power Torque 3 Day Drop (4/5 Day Drop) Volume
AANI 0.0010 0% 5 4 4.0 57 100 0 0.3 57 -17% -38/-52 3,821,400
AFML 0.0200 0% 6 2 0.6 600 600 0 0.3 60 -20% -50/-50 30,000
AOAG @ 0.0170 42% 0 99 4.3 3 9 -96 1.2 -74 -43% -43/-58 247,200
ATNO 0.0035 3% 0 4 4.0 50 3,999 -31 0.3 -27 9% -5/6 1,176,200
AVIX 0.0130 -7% 3 1 11.8 39 39 20 3.5 1081 -35% 18/46 815,000
AVTI 0.0009 -10% 3 1 7.2 358 358 33 0.6 -56 -31% -10/-25 7,153,000
AWYI @ 0.0050 25% 0 99 47.8 208 478 -2.5E8 2.5 -15 0% -15/-17 12,407,700
BNYN 0.0003 0% 3 3 2.1 2,100 2,100 0 0.6 36 -50% -40/-57 7,000,000
BSLM 0.0033 6% 0 4 4.2 30 60 -14 2.8 166 -45% -56/-53 1,275,200
CIGI @ 0.0080 167% 0 99 0.0 0 0 -100 2.0 92627 167% 167/167 10,200
CNMY 0.0105 -30% 2 1 27.9 56 62 72 2.7 13 -42% -50/-50 2,230,000
COPI @ 0.0189 15% 0 99 44.1 75 232 -103 2.1 -16 -14% -21/-18 2,588,000
CTHH 0.0160 -24% 3 2 16.1 23 32 26 3.0 -77 -90% -90/-89 872,800
CXAC 0.0070 0% 1 4 10.0 27 249 0 3.3 39 17% -13/-36 1,795,900
DIOM 0.0230 15% 0 1 91.2 91 228 -32 1.7 77 -47% 28/64 3,649,800
EFUL 0.0048 -4% 4 2 2.8 18 142 20 0.3 2 -20% -36/7 675,000
ETNL 0.0230 -4% 3 22 38.3 153 191 43 0.8 102 -10% -8/-12 1,612,200
FMNJ 0.0025 9% 0 5 20.5 411 20,537 -64 0.5 -18 14% 19/-14 7,468,000
FRTW 0.0250 -4% 8 3 14.8 30 14,800 13 1.9 -18 -29% -40/-43 538,200
GCME 0.0210 5% 0 5 0.1 1 1 -5E7 0.0 -35 0% -30/-40 4,900
GGLB @ 0.0035 40% 0 99 3.0 18 30 -427 0.5 -61 9% 35/-13 1,123,100
GRMU 0.0019 -14% 5 3 43.9 627 878 51 0.7 6 -27% -32/-42 21,422,600
GSHN 0.0014 -7% 3 1 17.3 347 867 18 3.8 25 -36% -18/-22 12,846,900
HFBV 0.0050 0% 7 5 4.9 71 99 0 0.6 -8 -17% -23/-38 1,061,900
HRRN 0.0100 -33% 4 1 4.4 9 9 50 1.1 -67 -67% -67/-50 350,900
HSFI 0.0060 -33% 8 6 0.7 2 13 73 0.1 218 -45% -45/-45 90,600
INRA 0.0042 -9% 6 4 14.9 135 186 54 2.9 12 -16% -30/-40 3,272,900
INSGY 0.0250 0% 11 2 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 -100 0% -50/-50 0
IOGH 0.0030 -14% 3 1 2.7 53 53 45 0.9 22 -32% -25/-33 820,500
ITKH 0.0300 -3% 7 1 4.7 5 4,692 7 0.4 -43 -45% -58/-78 156,400
ITRO 0.0065 -7% 2 6 30.0 429 429 54 0.3 -21 -13% -8/-8 4,385,700
IWRI 0.0050 0% 155 65 0.0 0 0 0 0.0 -100 0% 0/0 0
JCDS 0.0030 -9% 3 1 4.4 55 145 26 0.4 -31 -35% -25/11 1,283,000
LYJN 0.0100 -23% 9 1 44.1 126 176 59 2.9 -4 -39% -44/-44 3,751,100
MIHS @ 0.0080 45% 0 99 13.7 30 46 -136 1.4 1 -33% 0/14 2,381,000
MMTE 0.0020 -5% 4 2 1.2 24 24 10 0.1 -74 -47% -47/-33 524,500
MOVIQ 0.0105 0% 5 3 25.1 63 501 0 5.1 68 -52% -58/-58 2,178,700
MSTF 0.0029 0% 1 4 13.7 152 343 0 1.2 171 -3% -26/-28 5,597,000
NAUG @ 0.0190 12% 0 99 3.1 15 15 -212 5.3 1621 6% 6/6 172,100
NTNI 0.0190 -14% 1 7 12.0 30 60 143 2.1 331 -10% -14/-7 598,200
PFNO 0.0022 0% 9 7 2.1 26 2,068 0 1.3 -36 -27% -27/-27 795,400
PHGI 0.0002 0% 6 4 36.5 3,650 36,501 0 1.3 115 0% 0/-50 146,004,300
PRSF 0.0001 0% 20 15 2.8 284 2,835 0 1.4 150 0% 0/0 18,900,000
PTEI 0.0120 -33% 11 7 4.1 10 14 100 1.0 466 -33% -37/-37 312,800
QEDC 0.0025 -17% 17 14 5.4 54 108 76 0.5 -70 -22% -24/-26 2,156,500
RDYM 0.0029 -42% 1 1 5.1 24 24 81 3.8 164 -52% -52/-42 1,286,000
SHSN 0.0012 -40% 2 2 2.0 20 196 70 1.0 -52 -57% -60/-59 1,305,600
SLSY 0.0003 0% 3 3 9.3 463 927 0 1.2 -46 -50% -40/-50 30,895,400
SWPC @ 0.0040 14% 0 99 2.1 41 2,051 -271 0.1 -73 5% 0/-20 547,000
TCHL 0.0275 -21% 4 1 3.4 3 5 55 0.8 81 -39% -57/-56 113,300
UITK 0.0250 -24% 4 1 24.5 17 22 60 2.1 52 -40% -40/-38 844,300
VOIC 0.0055 0% 3 1 7.8 60 78 0 3.5 -59 -39% -15/-15 1,339,600
VRED 0.0047 -15% 3 3 6.6 51 51 67 0.5 -59 -22% -6/-33 1,229,000
WNMX 0.0090 0% 7 2 2.2 11 11 0 1.3 -57 -44% -50/-50 216,300
WWNG @ 0.0025 25% 0 99 0.9 12 32 -150 0.2 -84 -17% -17/-17 363,700
XHUA 0.0014 0% 3 5 1.4 23 23 0 0.7 21 -13% -7/-22 817,300
XXIS 0.0011 -39% 8 1 5.9 65 65 86 2.1 438 -45% -45/-45 3,775,000
can pinky pumpy dumpy explain away the OBV and A/D?
you're funny...
"Patience will be rewarded."
do you even know who Claypool is?
casa de weisel lawsuit?
WEISEL v. GULF TO BAY
08-CA-005381
JUDGE JAY B ROSMAN
20TH JUDICIAL CIRCUIT
LEE COUNTY, FLORIDA
"The Promise of Robotics"
Innova is betting its software will reanimate a disjointed industry.
Kevin Allen
Remember that amazing robot you were promised when you were a kid? You know, the one that would fold the laundry, clean the toilets, do your homework? On TV and in the movies, such machines have been with us for quite a while, from Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still to R2-D2 in Star Wars and T-800 in The Terminator. Along with flying cars and teleportation, it seemed just a matter of time before we all would have our own reliable robot.
So what happened? It's 2007. Where's my RoboButler?
There was a little problem. Turns out that real-life robots are, well, dumb. They can weld just fine and lift and push and even see and talk. They're great when it comes to chores that are monotonous, dirty or dangerous. But like many of us, they don't cope well with change.
"The nice thing about robots is they just don't break down mechanically," says Walt Weisel, CEO of Fort Myers-based Innova Robotics and Automation. However, "They suffer from brain problems."
It's Weisel's business to fix that. He's building a better robot brain.
"The brain of the robot is software. We don't particularly care what the robot can do. If you want motion, we can make it happen," he says.
His company has been operating in Fort Myers in one form or another since 1991, and so far it's a business still based largely on promise and optimism. Weisel estimates the company was more than $5.5 million in the red in 2006. Still, he remains convinced that Innova is on the verge of something big.
"This company is a gold mine for technology, employment and growth," he says.
industry has always been about selling the future, and there has always been something about seeing a machine perform lifelike tasks that sparks wonder. Weisel recalls the precise moment when he was seduced.
It was 1966. Joseph Engelberger, the acknowledged father of robotics, appeared on The Tonight Show with the Unimate, a small, one-armed robot.
With Engelberger at the controls, the Unimate picked up a golf club and sank a 10-foot putt, then popped the tab of a can of Budweiser and poured it into a glass. Next, the robot plucked up a baton and led The Tonight Show band. When the song ended, the Unimate snatched an accordion and smashed it to the stage floor, then raised its robot arm triumphantly. Johnny, Ed and the studio audience roared.
"The next day I quit my job and went to work for Joe Engelberger," Weisel says.
There was nothing, it seemed, that robots couldn't do to extend humans' reach.
Almost all industrial robots are mechanical arms with six axes of movement: The arm itself can rotate, move up and down and side-to-side. Its "wrist" can perform the same three motions. Those six movements can reproduce almost any human motion, and when a robotic arm is combined with other robots, the manipulative power is virtually endless, Weisel says. Even 30-year-old robot arms-and there are thousands of these in Detroit-can be retro-fitted with Innova software and controllers to work faster and smarter, he says.
Typically, a robot on an auto assembly line can perform one function-say, make a spot weld-per second. Innova technology can communicate 1,100 movements per second. It can enable a robot to draw a perfect line on a compound angle one-quarter of a hair thick.
But for all Weisel's innovation and optimism, Innova struggles financially. The company reported to the Securities and Exchange Commission that it incurred losses of $1.4 million in 2004 and nearly $1.9 million in 2005, when it claimed zero revenue. Its auditors reported that Innova will require additional working capital to develop its business until it either achieves enough revenue to generate sufficient cash flows from operations or obtains additional financing. The audit report concludes, "These conditions raise substantial doubt about Innova Holdings, Inc.'s ability to continue as a going concern."
For 2006, Innova reported revenue of $1.3 million, but still had a net loss of $5.6 million. Weisel blames the losses primarily on reinvestment into the company. From January through April of this year, stock traded at a high of $.33 and a low of $.13.
In a February 2007 recap of the company's performance in 2006, Weisel highlighted the fact that the company repaid more than $1 million in debt, completed the sale of the company's 10 percent secured convertible debentures, and accomplished a 1-for-10 reverse stock split. The moves, Weisel says, would allow Innova to invest in its core technology, explore new applications for its products and hire and retain key personnel.
In March, Innova announced a $3 million settlement of an intellectual properties infringement lawsuit. Weisel is counting on the company's patents. "The biggest asset any company has is its intellectual property," he says.
A huge challenge for Weisel is tapping into what he thinks is a huge aftermarket in robotics. This is particularly important in the automotive industry, where many of the robots are "brain dead," he says. Many are old, controlled by antiquated software. It's expensive to replace these machines and update their controls. Weisel offers his universal robot controller as a cheaper, more efficient and ultimately more profitable alternative.
For a while, Ford was convinced. In 2000, the automaker invested $3 million in Weisel's company and planned to retro-fit its aging robots with the company's new controllers. A Ford vice president joined Innova's board of directors. But before the first controller was delivered, Ford, along with the rest of the U.S. auto industry, saw its sales plummet after Sept. 11, 2001. The automaker cancelled its order. Unable to attract new investors in the post-Sept. 11 economic downturn, Weisel was forced to substantially shut down his operation in December of 2002.
The experience illustrates an uneasy fact of life in the robot business: It remains tied to the auto industry. After a record-setting year in 2005 for North American sales of robots, orders dropped 30 percent in 2006, according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), a trade group in Ann Arbor, Mich.
On the bright side, non-automotive sales of industrial robots accounted for 44 percent of total orders in 2006, compared with just 30 percent in 2005, a healthy trend for the industry. The trade group estimates that some 166,000 robots are now in use at U.S. factories.
"Our members understand that while the automotive industry has traditionally been and remains the largest customer for robotics, changes are occurring in the auto industry that may negatively impact future robot sales to automotive OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] and their suppliers," executive vice president Donald A. Vincent said in an RIA report on industry results and trends for 2006. "Therefore, it becomes more important than ever to find new markets."
Walt Weisel is counting on it.
Since he founded Innova, Weisel has been working to redefine the industry. "We really don't care what's out there to control," Weisel says. "I can control a wheelchair as well as a robot. We based our business on a hunch that computers are going to get faster, smaller and more powerful. PCs are going to control the world."
Innova and its subsidiary businesses make robot brains using the same familiar, household technology and equipment on which these words are processed. "Everything we've done for 16 years has been based on Microsoft," Weisel says.
Back when Innova was still Robotic Workspace Technologies, Weisel introduced the world's first PC-based controller using commercially available, off-the-shelf hardware and software in the Microsoft Windows environment. The company spent $6 million and six years developing the system and holds patents for its Universal Robot Controller and RobotScript universal programming language. Because the technology is so familiar and accessible, Innova products can be adapted to control all things robotic.
Weisel leads the way to the crowded shop at the company's humble headquarters in a warehouse on Pine Ridge Road, where a technician tests the company's newest controller, equipped with the fastest Dell processor available on the market. The interface for the controller is a standard Windows desktop, and with a few clicks, the technician opens the robot controls. With a few flicks of a joystick, a six-foot robot arm comes eerily to life, moving at the operator's commands with the grace of a dancer.
Once the robot has been "taught" to perform a task-say, produce a series of spot welds-Innova's computer brain can have the robot duplicate the series of movements while keeping track of any malfunctions or interruptions. All of this on a computer screen that is as familiar as the one you'd use to check your e-mail.
Another strength of Innova's products is their universality, Weisel says. Not only can the software be used by robots of virtually any age and manufacturer, it's also easily transmitted over the Internet Weisel says.
"It's basically converting motion to software to worldwide communications," he says.
A recent, dramatic example of this long-distance control is the Hubble telescope. In 2006, Innova fulfilled a contract with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center for a high-speed PC-based control system for use on space missions such as the one planned to adjust the Hubble telescope's flight path. The speed and power of the controller allow NASA engineers to accurately simulate conditions in space and plan the Hubble mission.
Weisel has focused on strategic alliances in areas as diverse as healthcare to unmanned flight to homeland security. Former Attorney General John Ashcroft, a longtime friend of Weisel, joined Innova's board of advisors last year. Ashcroft currently heads a Washington-based homeland security consulting firm, and Weisel sees the relationship as a valuable entrée into providing robots and controllers for port security and border surveillance.
In March, Innova announced its acquisition of Altronics Service Inc., a Port Charlotte company that produces devices used with automatic manufacturing equipment. That followed the May 2006 acquisition of CoroWare Technologies, headquartered on the Microsoft campus in Redmond, Wash. CoroWare was founded by Microsoft employees and works with Microsoft's Robotics Studio, which opened in June 2006 and represents the software giant's first major push into the field of robotics.
"Microsoft has a huge desire to get to the factory floor," says Weisel, who is a friend of Bill Gates. "They've had huge intentions but never made it."
There are some parallels between the current state of the art in robotics and the computer industry of 30 years ago.
"A handful of well-established corporations sell highly specialized devices for business use, and a fast-growing number of startup companies produce innovative toys, gadgets for hobbyists and other interesting niche products," Microsoft's Gates wrote in Scientific American in December 2006. "But it is also a highly fragmented industry with few common standards or platforms. Projects are complex, progress is slow, and practical applications are relatively rare. In fact, for all the excitement and promise, no one can say with any certainty when-or even if-this industry will achieve critical mass. If it does, though, it may well change the world."
Walt Weisel is ready.
"Ninety percent of what you need to do is based on those six axes," Weisel says. "Our job is to show the customer how to cost-justify it."
Photo by Alex Stafford
http://gulfshorebusiness.com/Articles/2007/06/The-Promise-of-Robotics.asp
AI
