Servo - April 2009

returns to its charger base just like the Roomba.

Unlike the iRobot Roomba, however, it uses magnetic strips instead of virtual walls/lighthouses to define its working area. Figure 3 shows an interior view of the Trilobite. This is just one of many types of robots being developed in Swedish universities and then produced by their world-class industries.

An interesting Electrolux robot that was developed more as an ‘ecological green’ demonstration device is the HVF robot vacuum cleaner. Looking more like a roving flower pot than a useful household device, it supposedly runs on hydrogen fuel cells and produces water as a byproduct for the plants. Figure 4 shows the robot in all its glory.

News of the device made headlines in the blogsphere about a year ago when it was touted “for the home of 2020.” I have yet to read anything mentioning the technical aspects and actual cost to purchase it here in the US.

FIGURE 4.

British Robotics

One particular British robotic device that I’ve heard about the past few years is the MAS Mower 01 and 05 — large scale robotic grass mowers intended for stadiums and soccer pitches. The Gloucestershire-based company, McMurtry Limited, has developed a mower that can act on its own and mow an entire sports field without human intervention. The MAS Mowers are substantially larger and more expensive (£ 40,000+) than smaller residential types (see Figure 5). The mower utilizes a 36 inch wide, six blade reel cutting

system and the robot mower is guided by a rotating laser shown in

Figure 6. The on-board computer can be pre-programmed to follow any pattern desired, even to actually cut a sports team’s logo in the grass. When the 70 liter catcher is full, the mower automatically goes to a specified dump point to dispose of the clippings and then returns to the place where it left off to continue cutting.

The rotating laser scanner senses reflective strips placed around the field to accurately locate and orientate itself on the area being mowed. A hand controller can be used to program or control the mower.

Considering the robot’s size and potential danger inherent in an autonomous lawnmower, the MAS Mowers have ultrasonic obstacle detectors, soft front and rear bumpers, a warning horn, a flashing strobe light, and manual override capability with three emergency kill switch buttons. The massive mowers can cut up to two acres of grass before needing recharging (by manual means).

Dyson DC06 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Dyson is known as a manufacturer of quality and fairly expensive vacuum cleaners. James Dyson started the company after examining a sawdust collector that used cyclonic action to collect the dust without replacing

bags. The collector was too expensive for him to buy, so he designed and built his own that was superior and cheaper. His uniquely colored vacuums are popular around the world and he decided to follow suit with the other robot vacuums that were beginning to appear in the late ‘90s and developed the 9.2 kg DC06 that was unveiled in 2001 (see Figure 7).

The project was placed on hold in 2004 after many beta models were placed into various households for testing. It was expected to cost over $4,000.

“Dyson engineers are researching robotics, but it takes time. We could have launched DC06 and heralded it as the first robotic vacuum cleaner. It has three onboard computers, 2,000 electronic components, 27 separate circuit boards, and 70 sensory devices. As robots go, it’s highly advanced, more so in fact than robot vacuums available today. But, we want one that cleans properly and guides itself more logically than a human would, a