For those of you that have not heard of the Irobot Roomba, it is a robotic vacuum cleaner. It is a small round device that automatically goes around your home Vacuuming and cleaning as it goes. The robot can be programmed to carry out its operations on a timed schedule. So that your home can be vacuumed whilst you are at work.
I am an avid science fiction fan and an engineer by trade, so the theory of robotics has been a common dream in my life. So when my uncle showed me his Irobot Roomba I was sold. The fact that it beeps like R2D2 from star wars was a bonus. A few months I bought one as a present for my wife's birthday and we have been extremely happy since. Especially with two cats in the house the usual balls of cat hair on the floor are now gone with no effort.
This then had me thinking about all the science fiction movies, books and cartoons I had seen back in the 80's 90's and wondered how close we really are to some of the elements becoming true. The Irobot Roomba is the main robot of the Irobot corporation, but looking closely they are expanding into other areas with household chore robots.
Having taken the principle that anything that is a hardship or dangerous should be done by a robot. This comes from their military wing of robotic design, where bomb disposal robots are a big seller. They have employed this principle into the Irobot roomba but also the Scooba a floor washing robot. The Verra a swimming pool cleaning robot and finally the strange Looj a gutter cleaning robot.
It is not only the team at Irobot Roomba that are building robots to make our lives easier and freeing up time from daily chores. Lawnbot has launched a range of robotic lawn mowers, doing a similar job as the Irobot Roomba but for your lawn. It has also moved to the pet care sector with robotic feeders and litter tray cleaners.
So is this a sign of things to come? Irobot roomba reports that in 2008 they had sold more than 2.5 million units to homes around the world. The initial challenge for these robots to come into our homes is the price tag. Once the volume starts to move the price will drop and similar to all other technical gadgets. This is when we start to see them hit main market.
So is it Sci-Fi or thing to come, The easy answer is it is here and is going to become a major part of homes. As cell phones have mimicked the star trek communicator, Robotic vacuum cleaners are now becoming a common sight in homes. When you combine that with computers becoming more central to a home. There will quickly be a point when a home central server using a wifi signal can control and organise. All these separate robots. From a command from your mobile phone, you can arrange for the lawn to be mowed as you have unexpected guests coming for dinner.
If you would like more information on the Irobot Roomba or Robotic vacuum cleaners please check out Irobot Roomba
My name is Dan Jensen,
I have a trained engineer and have been a gadget geek for many years.
I now write about modern gadgets and their usefulness to people and homes
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