iRobot Corporation, an American advanced technology company best known for its Roomba automated vacuum cleaners, has unveiled a new system that simplifies all the controls for the company's line of defense and security robots. And it comes in one Android app.

There are more than 6,000 iRobots deployed worldwide, ranging from military operations, law enforcement investigations and industrial processes. These robots are becoming more complex, placing great demands on patience and on training operators to properly operate them.

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But iRobot's new uPoint Multi Robot Control System (uPoint MRC) promises to turn the job into a less tedious tablet play.

 "It's so easy to use anyone can do it," reporter Lance Ulanoff of Mashable said.

The new system is an app that can run on nearly every Android tablet on the market, allowing users to remotely operate iRobot's existing and upcoming robot models.  It can even let users control multiple robots on one tablet.

With simplified controls and a virtual joystick, the system shows the user the robot's POV through its cameras. A user can freely tap, drag and drop to steer, move and control the robot in the easiest way possible. Any beginner can learn to control the robots within minutes.

The feature can also be used to guide the robot through tight spots and repeat tricky tasks such as working door handles.

Interestingly, all crucial data the robot collects is instantaneously stored on a secure cloud third parties can acquire access to in order to participate in investigations.

The move is a big turnaround from iRobot's previous approach to its controls. Early iRobots required video game controllers to maneuver the robots and were far more difficult to use.

"We needed to invest in simplifying the control of the robots so that more people with less training can use them," confirmed iRobot's technical director, Orin Hoffman.

iRobot plans to market the uPoint MRC next year.

TagsiRobot, uPoint Multi Robot Control System, uPoint MRC