So what exactly household robots are and what do they do?
You probably have heard something about three D's - Dull, Dirty and Dangerous.
This is a designation for jobs that are usually entrusted to robots. Maybe
chores are not very dangerous but they can be rather dirty and dull.
Of course, not everything in a household can be done by
robots, at least not yet. Still, there are jobs where robot application can be
justified at the moment. There are two main criteria that should be met when
thinking about buying a household robot.
At first, you should find out how effectively a robot can do
its job. The robot's efficiency should be high enough for your specific
application. Different applications could require different levels of
efficiency.
Second, a robot's use should be economically justifiable.
Maybe it's cheaper to pay someone to do the job than to buy a robot. This goes
more to commercial applications like shop or pool cleaning. Of course, the time
you spend to clean a room also counts.
By weighing out at least these two criteria it is possible
to find the best price-value bargain. Human emotions also come in the equation.
If you really, really want a household robot there's no reason why you should
prohibit something to yourself.
Robotic vacuums
In my opinion, robotic vacuum cleaners are the most known
household robots to general public. It's so because of the most known of all
vacuuming robots - iRobot Roomba . This company sure knows how to put their
products on the market.
Nevertheless, roomba is not the only one. There are many
vacuuming robots in a wide price range for different applications made by
different companies. Read more on robotic vacuums here.
Other floor cleaners
Although vacuuming is the most known application, robots are
not limited to it. There are robots that can sweep floors such as the iRobot
Dirt Dog and robots that can wash floors like roomba's sibling - iRobot Scooba
as well.
Mobile webcams
Anyone has something they have to watch for. For example a
dog - are you sure that he doesn't sit on a couch when you are not home?
Well... Now you can log on your surveillance robot using the internet and shout
to your dog to get off the couch.
They can have more capabilities also - like playing mp3's
and other handy things when you are home. Two most known mobile webcams are
Spykee made by Meccano/Erector and Rovio made by WowWee. Read a summary on
mobile webcams here.
Gutter cleaners
Remember I talked about three D's? Well, I think gutter
cleaning could fit all three of them. You have to reposition the ladder many
times, you can fall off them and the job is definitely dirty. This sounds like
a perfect job for a robot to me.
Although the justification of robot's application for this
job is quite clear, at the moment I am aware of only one gutter cleaning
robotic solution. That would be Loon made by robot.
Lawn mowing
This job seems quite similar to vacuuming only outdoor and
in a bigger scale, right? If there are many vacuuming robots there should be
many robotic lawn mowers too. Well, that is right. Lawn mowing could be the
second largest robot application in a household.
As I said, there are many lawn mower robots made by
different companies. There are not so expensive solutions for your home lawn.
And there are also rather expensive robots for more serious commercial
applications like golf clubs and other sports fields.
Pool cleaning
Pools are nice and offer you a lot of joyful moments when
you can use it for recreation. However, cleaning them is not so nice. Of
course, you can always pay someone to do the job but a robotic pool cleaner
could be a cheaper solution.
Usually, robotic pool cleaners can clean the pool from floor
to waterline and also filter the water for leaves and other things. This way
owning a pool is made nearly hassle free.
Litter robot
Well, I'm not really sure if these devices can be called
robots but they do a dirty job. The idea is simple - a cat does its thing in
the litter robot which can detect when a cat leaves. When it happens it will
roll cat's things off the surface into a special compartment.
I'm not really sure how it's possible to get a cat into it.
They can be rather independent and proud beings.
Friends
Of course, you can't buy friends at a store. But there are
robots that can entertain you in your daily duties that can be viewed as
borderline toys.
The possible device range is quite large. There are robots
that can follow you around and entertain. There are robots that can wake you up
and run away and hide from you - more like wheeled alarm clocks. There are also
PC-based robots that you can assemble and program as you wish.
There are some other robots that could be regarded as
household robots. Many of them are in development stage and many that can't
really do something useful. Of course, toy robots can also be counted into this
type. However, here I focus primarily on robots that can do chores and other
useful things for us.
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