A charming new film called”Robot & Frank” takes place in the not too distant future, where humanoid robot housekeepers are trivial. (The direct robot personality also acts as caregiver to an aging man and, finally, as co-conspirator and friend.)
It is a frequent theme in popular culture. From Isaac Asimov’s”I, Robot” series published starting in 1950 to the Will Smith movie of the same title to”The Jetsons,” have guaranteed a future where smart machines would wash our dishes and do our laundry.
In every one of those fictional depictions, housecleaning robots are humanoid. The home of the future is washed by something approximating a human servant re-created out of circuits and machined metal components.
Frank Langella in”Robot & Frank”
It is the future today, is not it? So where’s your robot housekeeper? It turns out that a few elements of autonomous housekeeping were harder than imagined. The mechanical problems have been resolved, and the”intelligence” to carry out domestic chores — for example, draining dishes and placing them into a dishwasher — is also doable.
Two problems prevent us from getting”The Jetsons'” Rosie the Robot: pattern recognition and decision making.
Your brain’s skills to recognize what objects are, and to contextualize them, are far beyond even the most effective computer. These skills are required for even the most commonplace of national pursuits.
So with the current technologies, humanoid, all-purpose cleaning robots are out of the question and will be for quite some time.
The fantastic thing is that little housecleaning robots which specialize in just one task are becoming more and more accessible and affordable.
Roomba 650 Floor Cleaner – $399.99
Floor-Cleaning Robots
Robots that vacuum rugs and wash floors have been around awhile, and they improve with every generation.
The chief in the group is a company named iRobot. They make vacuum cleaner robots under a brand called the Roomba and cleansing or floor-washing robots known as the Scooba. Other companies have emerged which also sell Roomba-like robot vacuums.
In general, these floor-cleaning robots are all round, flat and operate on re-chargable batteries. They map the room in their robot brains and make multiple passes in every area. Sensors stop them from tumbling down stairs and permit them to clean around the bottoms of furniture. Many return to their charging channels, so the only human intervention required is the occasional emptying of their dirt bubbles and cleaning of their brushes.
One of iRobot’s most recent products is state of the art. Called the Roomba 650, this floor cleaner automatically corrects for various sorts of floors and carpets. And it has a fresh layout for transferring dirt into an enlarged bin, which involves draining less often. You can program it to clean up to seven times each week starting at whatever time you specify.
WCR-I001 Window Cleaning Robot – $539.99
Window-Cleaning Robots
A new category of robot does windows! These generally involve two light and small units that you set on all sides of the window — one side cleans, and the other hand holds it against the glass using magnets and controls direction and speed.
Once you turn it loose, the robot cleans horizontally until it reaches the other side of the window; then it makes another pass in the opposite direction a few inches lower. These passes until the window is done, repeat.
One of the leading brands is Named Windoro WCR-I001 Window Cleaning Robot. It cleans replaceable microfiber cloths and runs for approximately two hours on a battery charge, as stated by the manufacturer.
Looj 330 – $299.99
Rain Gutter-Cleaning Robots
iRobot creates a gadget known as the Looj 330, which won’t only clean your roof’s rain gutters without much effort on your part, it will reduce your ladder time, which makes that seasonal gutter-cleaning chore safer.
The Looj is a lanky, watertight mini-tank that fits to the gutter. You turn it on and let it go, and its large, rubberized flaps flip the leaves and junk out of your gutters.