Science Fiction
Dictionary
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
 |
Winboni Window-Washing Robot
Winboni, a window-washing robot created by MSU students, won the prestigious International Student Design Competition of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in Boston last month.
Winboni is definitely a personal window-washing robot for the home, unlike the larger SkyBot high-rise window cleaning robot profiled a month ago. Take a look at the Winboni video below.
(Winboni Window-Washing Robot Video)
Winboni is an autonomous robot just five inches square and two inches thick; it runs on AA batteries and attaches itself to the window with a suction fan. Little powered wheels move it about and felt pads perform the cleaning actions.
Kyle Koepf, Jonathan Luckhardt, Emily Duszynski and Joshua Thomet tried five different designs and spent more than 900 hours in meeting the contest specifications.
As Robert Heinlein might say, there's some good skull-sweat in this 'bot. He wrote the spec for Window Willie, which used electrostatics to clean polished surfaces.
I got to thinking about dirty windows and that ring around the bathtub that is so hard to scrub, as you have to bend double to get at it. It turned Out that an electrostatic device could make dirt go spung! off any polished silica surface, window glass, bathtubs, toilet bowls-anything of that sort. That was Window Willie and it's a wonder that somebody hadn't thought of him sooner...
Update 13-Feb-2009: Take a look at this entry for the window cleaner robots from Arthur C. Clarke's 1972 novel Rendezvous With Rama. End update.
From Window-washing robot eases cleaning woes.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 12/2/2008)
Follow this kind of news @Technovelgy.| Email | RSS | Blog It | Stumble | del.icio.us | Digg | Reddit |
Would
you like to contribute a story tip?
It's easy:
Get the URL of the story, and the related sf author, and add
it here.
Comment/Join discussion ( 0 )
Related News Stories - (" Robotics ")
Atlas Robot Makes Uncomfortable Movements
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.' - James Cameron, 1991.
Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...' - Herbert Goldstone, 1953.
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...' - Frederik Poh, 1954.
PaXini Supersensitive Robot Fingers
'My fingers are not that sensitive...' - Ray Cummings, 1931.
Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.
Science Fiction
Timeline
1600-1899
1900-1939
1940's 1950's
1960's 1970's
1980's 1990's
2000's 2010's
Current News
Atlas Robot Makes Uncomfortable Movements
'Not like me. A T-1000, advanced prototype. A mimetic poly-alloy. Liquid metal.'
Boring Company Drills Asimov's Single Vehicle Tunnels
'It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Humanoid Robots Tickle The Ivories
'The massive feet working the pedals, arms and hands flashing and glinting...'
A Remarkable Coincidence
'There is a philosophical problem of some difficulty here...'
Cortex 1 - Today A Warehouse, Tomorrow A Calculator Planet
'There were cubic miles of it, and it glistened like a silvery Christmas tree...'
Perching Ambush Drones
'On the chest of drawers something was perched.'
Leader-Follower Autonomous Vehicle Technology
'Jason had been guiding the caravan of cars as usual...'
Golf Ball Test Robot Wears Them Out
"The robot solemnly hit a ball against the wall, picked it up and teed it, hit it again, over and again...'
Boring Company Vegas Loop Like Asimov Said
'There was a wall ahead... It was riddled with holes that were the mouths of tunnels.'
Rigid Metallic Clothing From Science Fiction To You
'...support the interior human structure against Jupiter’s pull.'
Is The Seattle Ultrasonics C-200 A Heinlein Vibroblade?
'It ain't a vibroblade. It's steel. Messy.'
Roborock Saros Z70 Is A Robot Vacuum With An Arm
'Anything larger than a BB shot it picked up and placed in a tray...'
A Beautiful Visualization Of Compact Food
'The German chemists have discovered how to supply the needed elements in compact, undiluted form...'
Bone-Building Drug Evenity Approved
'Compounds devised by the biochemists for the rapid building of bone...'
Secret Kill Switch Found In Yutong Buses
'The car faltered as the external command came to brake...'
Inmotion Electric Unicycle In Combat
'It is about the size and shape of a kitchen stool, gyro-stabilized...'
