US Robots Take a Shine to Indigo Vision's Technology

Robots using video technology supplied by Edinburgh-based Indigo Vision could soon be rooting out terrorists from their tunnel hideouts in Afghanistan following a deal with the US military's defence research operation announced yesterday.

Similar robots, equipped with Indigo Vision's video compression and encryption technology, have already been used in the clean-up of Ground Zero in New York. The robots were built by the space and warfare systems command (Spawar) unit of the US Navy, which carries out much of the country's military's research.

Indigo Vision has been sending completed samples of its chips to Spawar for the past two years and was taken by surprise when robots using the technology turned up dealing with the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

"These robots were used at Ground Zero because it was such a hazardous environment for the rescue services," said chief executive Oliver Vellacott.

"It came as something of a surprise to us as they hardly ever tell us what they are doing with our technology."

Obviously the top brass in the Pentagon were impressed and yesterday Indigo Vision announced a full-scale licensing deal with Spawar which will now be able to use the company's technology in all manner of products.

"It's a huge stamp of credibility when your products start being used by the US government," Mr Vellacott said.

While Indigo Vision would not comment further, the applications are expected to include remote-controlled helicopters and robots that can work in confined spaces.

Indigo Vision also announced a licensing deal with Texan chip manufacturer Cirrus Logic to develop a range of video compression chips aimed at the consumer electronics market.

The new chips should start shipping towards the end of the year.

The deals were announced as Indigo Vision reported an increased loss for the six months to the end of January of just over £4m, compared with £2.5m in the previous first half.

The company, which employs more than 110 people, blamed the losses on a drop in orders after the September 11 attacks. The company said a strong recovery between November and January has put it back on track.