Fukitorimushi, the cleaning robot
Panasonic revealed a new cleaning robot at the recent Tokyo Fiber Senseware exhibition in Milan with a very characteristic movement and appearance.
We already know the round Roomba that hovers the room to suck op the dust. The new Fukitorimushi acts more like a worm. Covered in a special cloth it crawls the floor of your rooms to find the dirty places. The cover is made of Nanofront, a special polyester cloth developed by Teijin. It has able to absorb oil and ultra-fine dust particles that normal hovers leave behind. When the robot detects a dirty spot it emits a red light and makes really an intensive effort to clean up the spot. Without the red light the appearence reminded me more of a kind of KITT Knightrider robot (see the clip to see what I mean). The robot is able to find it's way back to its charging station after finishing the job. It really is a wonderful combination of hightech electronics and innovative use of fibers. What makes this robot interesting also is the fact that it's motion has some emotional appeal according to the developers. After watching the robot for a while humans would develop a pet-like affection for the machine. I certainly won't mind having one in my room and it is quite possible I will have a nickname ready in just a few days.
Spotted through PinkTentacle