Some people love messing around in the yard, doing all the hands-on dirty work to ensure the drains and gutters are clean, well-maintained, and the envy of the entire neighborhood. And then there’s the rest of us…
For those who would rather have root canal that risk the inevitable dirty fingernails of toiling in drains or gutters, there’s now the IRobot Corporation’s “Looj.” The Looj is a remote-controlled robot, designed to perfectly navigate drains and gutters, while dislodging dirt and dead leaves better than any human.
The Looj propels itself forwards and backwards on a track-like apparatus, similar to that used by bulldozers or military tanks. As well as being waterproof at levels up to 1 foot deep, the Looj can clean the nastiest of gutters quicker than any human. IRobot claims that the Looj can clean a 60 foot length of standard home gutter in less than 10 minutes! Compare that to the time it takes to clean gutters by hand, constantly repositioning ladders, and more than likely, winding up covered with dead leaves, dirt and water.
Robotic tools are becoming more and more widespread these days. It hasn’t been very many years ago that the first “real life” household assistant robot was introduced. Of course, I’m talking about iRobot’s other breakthrough product, the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner. Although consumers were skeptical at first, the Roomba caught on with time, spurring a host of imitators. The success of the Roomba has researchers at work in laboratories around the world, searching for new and innovative “bots” to do the dirty work we humans would rather avoid.
The Looj is just the latest of these robotic servants, and you can expect to see many more appearing in the near future. IRobot is currently expanding their product line to include wall cleaners, industrial vacuums, and other time-saving robotic “engineers.” The company has been on the forefront of the home robotic movement, but now new companies are getting in on the act, and it seems inevitable that there will soon be “a robot in every home.”
While the Looj is not likely to eliminate yard-work as we know it, many business analysts see it as a first step toward the “robotization” of the family home. Up until the last decade, robots had been primarily used by governments and military organizations around the world. For example, the South Korean government is currently planning to deploy robots to secure its border with neighboring North Korea.
But in just a few years time, you will probably be more likely to find robots at work in and around your home, than on the front lines. Love them or hate them, it appears that robots are slowly but surely becoming a necessary part of our culture.
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what year was this thing invented?
send me more info please
Comment by mr.anoyomous — February 13, 2008 @ 12:33 pm