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Tondon Robot Autonomous Floor Cleaner
Tondon is an autonomous floor cleaning robot now working at a fancy Bali-themed luxury apartment complex in Tokyo. Who could have predicted that a robot could move from floor to floor cleaning all day long without supervision? Robert Heinlein, that's who, in 1956.
No mere iRobot Scooba, Tondon uses an optical communication system to control the building's elevators, moving from floor to floor as needed. Voice warnings let people know Tondon is coming; proximity sensors prevent collisions with people.
What Hired Girl would do (the first model, not the semi-intelligent robot I developed it into) was to clean floors . . . any floor, all day long and without supervision. And there never was a floor that didn't need cleaning. It swept, or mopped, or vacuum-cleaned, or polished, consulting tapes in its idiot memory to decide which.
(Read more about Heinlein's hired girl robot from The Door into Summer)
(Tondon cleaning robot)
The Tondon robot is also a part-time security guard; its four cameras provide a continuous view of hallways.
Tired of cleaning? Check out these robotic assistants:
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 8/2/2007)
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