Willow Garage has announced TurtleBot robot kits, intended to put a low-cost, personal robot kit in the hands of hobbyists and developers.

The TurtleBot uses a number of off-the-shelf components, including an Xbox Kinect controller that allows the robot to visually navigate its surroundings. The robot also uses free open-source software that can be adapted to make it perform a number of tasks.

The TurtleBot can be used to take panoramic pictures of a person’s home and continually upload the images to the Web, acting like a mini security guard. Alternately it can navigate its way through a home and deliver objects to people between rooms.