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Robots That Serve Beyond The Vacuum

Posted by timothy on from the alt-title-robots-that-don't-suck dept.

Tim Brown of Mobile Robotics writes "While everyone has been debating the abilities of new robotic vacuum cleaners and their varying price tags, Siemens has quietly announced they have developed a 'Dressman' robot that will iron your clothes! (my least favorite household chore). Rumoured to be priced at US$1700 it seems expensive for an iron. But it appears that the Roomba's best work might be that it is ushering in a new era of innovation in home products. (Note very cool picture with the article.)"

10 of 258 comments (clear)

  1. $1700 eh? by Moderator · · Score: 5, Funny

    Man, for $1700 this thing better do military creases.

    --
    The World is Yours.
    1. Re:$1700 eh? by Total_Wimp · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And what about autonomy? I expect an apliance that is in the category of "robot" to be able to take a pile of clothes and end up with a bunch of shirts on hangers. After setup, Roomba needs little assistance to get the job done where this device needs an operator for every shirt.

      If this is a robot, then so is my dishwasher, clothes washing machine and even my blender.

      TW

    2. Re:$1700 eh? by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Man, for $1700 this thing better do military creases.

      I've always loved the idea of home robotics, but at $1.25 a shirt, I can get 1360 laundered at the local dry-cleaners, and get then with heavy starch applied, hung on a hanger, and put in a plastic bag.

      Assuming one shirt per day, everyday -- and some days I do just wear a T-shirt -- that's more than three and half years worth of ironed shirts, with my labor limited to taking them to and from the cleaners -- and with no need to wash the shirts myself.

      The idea of inflating a dummy and drying the shirt from the inside out is great "outside the box" creativity, and I give the inventor credit for it. But that method doesn't crease the sleeves properly, it doesn't iron the collar, and I'm thinking that it may result in the placket at the back of a dress shirt bulging out at precisely where you want it creased.

      So it's a great idea that doesn't really substitute for ironing, and is too expensive. Much as I'd like to encourage this, it's a solution in search of a problem.

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  2. Too much for too little. by Seumas · · Score: 5, Insightful

    More or less, I'm your average geek. I telecommute, but my state of dress on any given day is not much different than when I worked in an office. That being said, how often do men really need to iron their clothes?

    I don't recall ironing a single piece of clothing since my job interview more than four years ago and that is the only time I've used an iron in my twenty-seven years. Hell, I only even own an iron because an ex-girlfriend needed it for her clothes - and I needed it for an upcoming project which including using an applique.

    Still, if you're a snazzy dresser and you wear clothing that tends to need ironing and you're a single person, I suppose this is a decent product. Especially if you have the money to burn.

    It really seems that this device (which reminds me of those punching-bag exercisers I've seen on television a couple times) is geared more toward the garment pressing industry than a home-user.

    Personally, the only robot I'm interested in is a sex-slave android and I don't think we'll be seeing any of those in my lifetime.

  3. A wonderful idea! by TWX · · Score: 5, Insightful

    How about instead of spending $1700 on a robot, just take your clothes out of the dryer and hang them up quickly enough that they don't have time to wrinkle?

    It works for me...

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  4. Boooring. by revmoo · · Score: 5, Informative

    How is THAT a robot? It's a dummy that inflates with hot air(that you have to put the shirts on yourself, no less) that is supposed to save you $1700 worth of your time somehow.

    Yeah right.

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    I would expect such blatant racism on Fark, but on Slashdot? Mods please ban this asshole.
    1. Re:Boooring. by Soko · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yeah.

      A bunch of dummies inflating with enough hot air to stuff a shirt, all for all too much money.

      Sounds like Congress, doesn't it?

      Soko

      --
      "Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm." - Anonymous
    2. Re:Boooring. by canadian_right · · Score: 5, Informative
      I worked as a clothes presser at a dry cleaners ( a long time a go!), and that "robot" was a standard piece of equipment circa 1980, and it certainly was not a robot! We called it "the susan". It was used for suit jackets mainly as we actualy laundered shirts and pressed them because they were generally too wrinkled to look nice with a just good steaming. All the pressing equimpent shoots out steam, and is air-powered. There was a small iron for deatil work. We also had a similar machine for doing the tops of pants, and a big press for doing legs and bodies.

      For a minute there I thought my back up career might in jepardym but looks like it is still safe.

      --
      Anarchists never rule
  5. I see a new feature... by Kiryat+Malachi · · Score: 5, Funny

    I see a new feature for RealDolls. Just make their skin a thermoelectric heating element, and...

    Shirts pressed while you wank!

    --

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    Mod me down, you fucking twits. Go ahead. I dare you.
    (I read with sigs off.)
  6. How to get away without ever ironing (by a tailor) by TheMCP · · Score: 5, Informative

    I'm a tailor, and I teach advanced classes about shirts. You don't need this "robot". You shouldn't have to iron your cotton shirts. Here's how to never iron, but have your cotton shirts look like you did:

    First, open every button on the shirt and remove plastic collar stays (if any) before washing.

    When you dry, cotton shirts can be dried on "hot" in most American home dryers, but I use "medium" when I go to a laundramat because their dryers are hotter.

    When you take your shirts out of the dryer, if they feel bone dry to the touch, you've over-dried them. You should be drying them less. They should feel as if they have just the slightest hint of moisture left in them, which should evaporate naturally within about a minute or so. Over-dried shirts will be wrinkly. Properly-dried shirts shouldn't be wrinkly.

    If your shirts are dried properly but are coming out of the dryer wrinkly, your loads of laundry are too big. Wash and dry a little less stuff in each load. The general rule is, when you put the wet clothes in the dryer, they should take up a bit less than half the space inside the dryer.

    Finally, you should get to the dryer as soon as it stops (not 10 minutes later: right away!) and take out your shirts and hang them up on clothes hangers. Do not use wire hangers, use plastic hangers (such as those available cheaply at Target or Kmart) or wood hangers. Wire hangers can cause the shirt to get funny misshapen wrinkles in the shoulders, which can only be removed by re-washing.

    If you do these things properly, your cotton shirts will look smooth and professional with no ironing.