A swarm of tiny robot vacuums for your apartment
These tiny robot vacuums — suctioning servos juiced by the miniature power bank cluster of a pair of AA batteries — are very clearly not going to go head-to-head with a Roomba, despite their adorable pincer arms lifted above their heads in a display of preemptive triumph. Still, at $14.99 each, you could unleash a whole swarm of the miniature vacuuming robots upon the filth of your apartment for the price of a Roomba. Boing Boing Gadgets will continue to appraise you of easy and affordable robot overlord opportunities as they develop.
Robot Vacuums [Perpetual Kid]
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That's not preemptive triumph.
THIS
THIS is preemptive triumph:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_WYz3IJZt4
Oh, yes please. Could they burble and squabble as they zip around? Perhaps give the cats an existential crisis? Occasionally stop and stare at me with cryptic intent? Stop thugs in the pocket of real estate developers from tearing down my building, the one vestige of a once thriving neighborhood? (Bonus points if you know what I'm referencing.)
Unfortunately they don't look like they zip around by themselves:
(Hi-lighting is my own)
There's gotta be a way to combine something like this with motorized wheels & a simple bumper sensor that tells it to stop, turn 300° & trundle off again whenever it hits an object, and then stop & raise it's arms when it's full or the batteries're dying.
I'm hearing Sorceror's Apprentice in my head, along with a lot of whirring.
It'd be cool if they would avoid obstacles but if they find each other, link their hands and "dance" as they work...
Scrubbing Bubbles?
It looks like Robot X1 that gave Bender such fits on Futurama. But it can't fly, huh? Can't even talk? Bummer...
From the product website, it doesn't sound like it moves on its own. But, hm... that could be changed pretty easily...
Looking at the comments, I'm glad I'm not the only one who got the impression that these robot-shaped suckers are actual robots. I'd like modding one of those with a micro-controller, sensors and locomotion, though. Or maybe I'll just trundle off into a corner and pout in disappointment.