Odetics Inc. Gets Six New Orders for Cart Machines

Odetics Inc., the Anaheim-based robotics and high-technology electronics company, said it has received six new orders for its Cart Machine--a computerized, robotic videocassette playback and record system designed for the automated control of broadcast programming at television stations.

Company officials would not disclose the value of the order, but said that the “typical” machine costs from $250,000 to $500,000, depending on the configuration ordered by a customer.

One of the principal components of the device is a multi-armed robotic manipulator that automatically loads and changes cassettes of commercials in a pre-programmed order.

The Cart Machine is the first commercial product to come from Odetics’ nearly five-year-old robotic systems development program.

In a prepared statement, Joel Slutzky, Odetics’ chairman and chief executive officer, said orders for the Cart Machine “are off to the best start of any commercial product in our history.” He said he expects the product “to be an important contributor to our total revenues.”