Blog frequenters know iRobot best as the creator of such domestic slave bots as the Roomba vacuum, the Scooba mop, and the gutter-cleaning Looj. What you may not have known, however, is that the company also has a division devoted to the design of government and industrial robots, such as the ominously named iRobot Warrior x700, shown at left.

The Warrior x700 is one of several bomb-disposing robots manufactured by the company. iRobot also makes machines for surveillance, reconnaissance, bomb identification, perimeter patrol, and my personal favorite, sniper protection/force protection, among others.

The company announced yesterday that it has been awarded a whopping $286 million contract to develop explosive-disarming robots. The five-year contract will see 3,000 bots delivered to the army.

For $286 million, I'd have hoped for something more along the lines of a terminator heat-seeking laser super-soldier robot, but I guess disarming explosives is cool too.