Jonathan Feist / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Robot vacuums are increasingly popular, but on average, they’re only in use for less than two hours a day, and idling the rest of the time.
- With some modifications, you can make your robot vacuum work harder for you.
- Researchers from the University of Bath retrained a Roomba to do various tasks like follow you around with a mobile phone charger, project videos onto walls or ceilings, and more.
While some of us dream of a future where robots keep the house clean and help us cook meals for us, and other tasks we may not have time for, that’s still a ways off. Plus, that could go the way of Skynet, which would be bad news for all of us. For now, we just have robot vacuums, but maybe you don’t have one yet and plan to buy one. But what if these domestic appliances could do more than just suck?
Researchers at the University of Bath have modified a Roomba so that it can do more tasks than just vacuuming. A robot vacuum, by design, is limited to a single task: cleaning the floors in your house, which can involve vacuuming or even mopping. Those who live in a home with multiple floors need at least two, since they (unfortunately) can’t navigate steps.
According to the study from Yoshiaki Shiokawa and their colleagues, a robot vacuum only averages less than two hours of use each day, and the rest of the time is spent idling. In other words, your robot vacuum is lazy and just sitting around most of the time.
The study identified around 100 different functions that a Roomba, or other robot vacuum brand, could perform with some necessary adjustments. Four of them were performed during the study (via BBC): a mobile phone charger attached to the Roomba that’s programmed to follow the user, an attached projector to display a workout video on a wall or ceiling, a “home monitor” with live video feed, and holding a “do not disturb” sign with geolocation programming to minimize interruptions.
One of the other tasks that was proposed in the study was bringing groceries from the car to the kitchen. Such tasks would need additional gear, like a cart or even robotic arm.
Now this one in particular is a bit far-fetched, because we’ve seen robot vacuums fail spectacularly with simple things around the house like rugs, shoelaces or string, or — gulp — the dreaded animal poop if a pet had an accident. I couldn’t imagine a Roomba in its current state being able to do anything like this.
In the study, some other concepts of tasks include an attachment for watering plants in the home, or adding a laser pointer so that the robot can keep a cat entertained. These are a bit more plausible, especially the cat one, though I believe some cats are already entertained by robotic vacuums. After all, we’ve seen cat videos where they just go for a joyride on them around the house, right?
Honestly, the idea and concept itself is intriguing. But I’m having a hard time seeing a robot that has a hard time with its core function at the slightest inconvenience be a reliable multitasker, at least at this point in time. We should expect more from our robots, yes, but maybe not one that sucks and gets stuck randomly.
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