Combining robotics and teleconferencing

The AVA 500 is a video conferencing robot from the company iRobot, created with Cisco Systems, that allows a user to attend meetings, check up on colleagues, participate in projects, etc. from anywhere in the world. The website of iRobot says: "The robot blends together iRobot's autonomous navigation with Cisco's TelePresence to enable people working off-site to participate in meetings and presentations where movement and location spontaneity are important."

The section of iRobot's website with information about AVA 500 includes a promotional video:
http://www.irobot.com/us/learn/commercial/ava500.aspx

The video is 5:07 minutes long and explains and shows how the robot works. The narrator speaks slowly and clearly, so the video should be understandable to students at low-intermediate level and above.

The website includes information that could be used to have students describe the robot.

Applications: http://www.irobot.com/us/learn/commercial/ava500/Applications/Remote_Team_Collaboration.aspx

Features: http://www.irobot.com/us/learn/commercial/ava500/Features.aspx

For a longer text (to focus on textual language features), use iRobot's press release:

http://www.irobot.com/us/Company/Press_Center/Press_Releases/Press_Release.aspx?n=061013