Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

iRobot Develops Hamster-Guided Robotic Vacuum

Posted by timothy on from the cat-powered-would-be-too-smart dept.

carusoj writes "The folks at iRobot apparently have plenty of time on their hands. They created a prototype wireless, robotic vacuum cleaner... powered by a hamster running inside a spinning ball. The rodent's movements with the ball are fed to and analyzed by a complex set of sensors, which then guide the actual vacuum device to mimic the animal's speed and direction. You can see where this is going: it's a clever ploy to then get you to buy a second robot that would automatically feed, water, and clean up after the hamster in the first robot."

2 of 108 comments (clear)

  1. The video in You Tube by migarg · · Score: 2, Informative

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doQvWsJRCPs

  2. Re:What's happening at iRobot, anyway? Nothing? by highfidelitychris · · Score: 2, Informative

    Years ago, they came out with a device that was good for its time. It was a dust-buster doing a random walk.

    Now they're on their 5th generation model. And it's a slightly better dust-buster which does a random walk. But it talks.

    Were there some smart people there at first and they all left?

    Why have they produced so little in all this time?

    They make a Scooba that "mops" your floor, a model that cleans your pool (2nd generation), a Looj model that cleans gutters, along with their stuff they make for military. I'd say they still have some smart people there.