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Michele Husak
Connors Communications
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IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Evolution Robotics™ Formed To Establish Software Standard For The Personal Robotics Industry

Phoenix, AZ - February 11, 2002 - Evolution Robotics, Inc., a software technology and services company creating what will soon become the dominant open software platform for the personal robotics industry, today announced the launch of the company at DEMO 2002 in Phoenix, Arizona.

Bringing together a stellar team of entrepreneurs, roboticists, software engineers, and commercial developers, as well as building technology partnerships with leading roboticists and research centers such as the California Institute of Technology and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Evolution Robotics has developed a proprietary software platform to empower the development of a variety of personal robots. This blend of superior technology and business acumen will allow Evolution Robotics to make a significant impact on the nascent personal robotics industry.

"We have built, from the ground up, the first commercially viable robotics software platform that is portable, modular, hardware-independent, and extensible, enabling professionals in a wide range of industries to create customized personal robot products for various hardware designs and operating systems," said Bernard Louvat, President and COO of Evolution Robotics. "Having pulled together the best blend of academic and commercial engineering expertise, we will grow the new personal robotics industry much the way Windows took the PC industry by storm."

Named the Evolution Robotics Software Platform, the company's software will provide the fundamental building blocks for a variety of personal robotics products and applications and will create a standard upon which all future developments can be built. Available initially on Linux with a version for Windows offered in the near future, the Evolution Robotics Software Platform offers a comprehensive development toolset consisting of its proprietary software architecture, core software modules, rich developer tools and hardware kit. The Evolution Robotics Software Platform will be available to academic, corporate, and developer markets beginning in March.

The company and product have been hand selected from more than 1,000 applicants to launch at DEMO 2002 in Phoenix, Arizona. "We identified a real vision and a solid business model behind Evolution Robotics," said Chris Shipley, executive producer of the event."Evolution Robotics is the first company to offer a personal robotics solution to an industry that has only just begun to get its feet wet. Through the development and availability of its software platform, Evolution Robotics will empower and accelerate this industry to produce useful personal robotics products that will become indispensable in our everyday lives sooner than we think."

The software architecture is an open platform that enables developers to seamlessly integrate software, hardware, and advanced applications to program robots that come alive, act autonomously, and complete complex tasks. The Evolution Robots Hardware Kit, which is bundled with the software platform, allows developers to rapidly design and build custom personal robots that showcase their applications to various industries. Evolution Robotics also will provide professional services capabilities through its talented team of roboticists, software engineers, consultants and developers.

The release of the Evolution Robotics Software Platform will bring the company immediate revenue as well as enable the company to aggressively pursue product development partnerships with leading consumer electronics, appliance, automotive, and toy manufacturers, as well as medical, retail, security and office equipment companies.

"This company is poised to advance the robotics industry dramatically by building the universal software upon which all personal robots are built," said Bill Gross, Executive Chairman and visionary leader of Evolution Robotics and founder of Idealab. "Our team of engineers has developed the roots of an industry that will result in personal robots in every home and workplace."

Formed in March 2001, Evolution Robotics has raised $3 million to date from Idealab and Ben Rosen, founding investor of Compaq and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology.

About Evolution Robotics
Evolution Robotics is a software technology and services company that is creating what will soon become the dominant open software platform for the personal robotics industry. This standard software platform will greatly accelerate the development of personal robots by allowing OEMs and software developers to build personal robots and robotics applications quickly and cost-effectively. Based in Pasadena, California and founded in March 2001, Evolution Robotics has developed the Evolution Robotics Software Platform, a proprietary, open, behavior-based, modular, portable, customizable, hardware-independent and scalable software architecture that will foster the creation of a variety of personal robots and applications. Evolution Robotics is an operating company of Idealab, a creator and operator of technology businesses.