CoroWare has come up with a new product designed for those who need a robotic solution that can be put together easily and fast. With the growing demand for DIY robotic kits CoroBot will surely be a hit among robotic enthusiasts. However, CoroWares target exceeds that of hobbyists and will also be very useful to researchers and developers in the industrial and service segments.

Corobot is marketed in it’s website as being “created to minimize the complexity of robot development. By combining a powerful PC-class platform with a robust, object-oriented software development system, the CoroBot empowers you to rapidly deploy and develop robotics solutions.” It should also be very useful for hardware developers since it can help when it comes to “additional physical mounting space, ports, sensors and communication devices.”

The CoroBot comes in four different models (CB-W, CB-WA, CB-L, and CB-LA) with prices ranging from $2799 to $3199. The CB-W and CB-L models both have a 4-wheel skid-steering base, 1.2GHz PC-based processor, 640×480 color camera, IR distance sensors front and back,a battery charger and AC power supply for tethered operation. Their only difference is in the operating systems installed with the W model having Windows-XP pre-installed along with the Microsoft Robotics Studio Services as part of the package and with the L model having Linux pre-installed plus a player/stage support pre-installed as well. The A models are just special versions of the two main models but with the addition of a 4-DOF arm capable of lifting 8 ounces, a gripper that can pick up objects up to 1.3 inches in size, and a contact sensor in the gripper that indicates the amount of pressure being applied