IRobot Releases Ava 500 for North America, Europe Sales
IRobot Releases Ava 500 for North America, Europe Sales
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| Photo courtesy iRobot |
By Priya Potapragada
IRobot, in alliance with Cisco, announced that the Ava 500 video collaboration robot is ready for delivery in the U.S., Canada and select European markets.
Ava 500 allows the remote users to collaborate with each other to use the video to see and be seen in places that would otherwise be difficult to work together, including hallways, manufacturing floors, data centers, laboratories and call centers.
"We are pleased to see iRobot achieve this important milestone," says Rowan Trollope, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco's Collaboration Technology Group. "For truly amazing things to happen, video needs to be available everywhere — on every pane of glass, in every meeting space and in all the spaces in between. The combination of Cisco TelePresence, Cisco wireless networking and iRobot autonomous mobility will help customers collaborate in new ways. This solution demonstrates a level of innovation that we believe is going to be critical to the next wave of growth in the collaboration industry."
Participants like Bayer, were invited to test the Ava 500 beta program.
"As a large company with facilities across the globe, technologies like Ava 500 offer several advantages to our business in terms of cost savings and productivity," says Dr. Michael Graefenstedt, vice president of BU Polyurethanes and Head of Commercial Business Development EMEA/LA at Bayer. "From my office in Germany, I was able to use Ava 500 to manage and collaborate with U.S. colleagues in a way that would have necessitated expensive travel otherwise. Having experienced a physical presence in the meeting and the advantage of ‘walking around’ with colleagues at their offices, I believe this technology holds great promise for how business will be conducted on a global scale moving forward."
Ava 500 lets the remote user to schedule and control the robot using an Apple iPad and chooses a location and destination by tapping a location on a map or by employee name. At the time of the meeting, the robot navigates its way by itself to the desired location and initiates the call using a Cisco TelePresence EX60 without bumping into people or objects. Manual applications are also options. At the end of the meeting, the Ava 500 disconnects and automatically returns to its charging station.

