This is an an insect-styled robot (about the size of a korgi with longish legs) that is used to take a snapshot of tidy rooms by crawling all over them and noting where things are. Subsquently it re-crawls at regular intervals and tries to work out if things are in the right or wrong place.

If things are in the wrong places it will get miserable and try to infect nearby humans with a sense of guilt. If things are in the right places it will instead try to be a delight. If no humans are nearby or can be reached it might send a text instead, expecially if something bad has happended or if nearby (lower-rank) people are ignoring it.

Ideally it should be able to clamber about the place without disturbing anything and be creative about working out routes that explore the whole room. It would have a dock to recharge itself, of course.

Top of the range models would seek to tidy the room as well - putting shoes in the right place, putting pencils in pen holders and fishing out coins from the back of sofas ...

You would be able to make it recrawl the room to allow it to accept permenant new features, such as pot plants, that would otherwise just upset it.
-- Aristotle, Jul 09 2009

Spider Robots http://www.youtube....watch?v=zZ5oi7tASC8
Kinda reminds me of the very creepy Spider Robots from the film adaptation of Minority Report. [Jinbish, Jul 09 2009]

An Example of Multi-Limbed Locomotion http://www.youtube....watch?v=W1czBcnX1Ww
This is just a taster, as Big Dog is obviously too big but it does have a kind of path finding capability. [Aristotle, Jul 09 2009]

Closer, creepier robot in terms of look http://www.youtube....wbo&feature=related
Obviously most people's rooms should be tidier than this ... [Aristotle, Jul 09 2009]

Would this be as fool proof as the already available automatic vacuum cleaners?

A neighbour of mine had one. It was programmed to vacuum the front room in the early hours of each morning.

The same neighbour then aquired a puppy.

For those of you who haven't already guessed, the puppy left a 'present' on the carpet, which the robot vacuum proceeded to spread in regular parallel lines over most of the area.

I trust an automated tidier would know not to hide my slippers when I took them off, or put the stool back where it belonged while I was changing a lightbulb.

Bun for the potential hilarious consequenses!
-- Twizz, Jul 09 2009


People pay a lot of money for artwork made by chimpanzees and gorillas. I wonder if they would pay the same for artwork made by a vacuum cleaner? Of course, it would likely be preferable if the medium were watercolor or oil paint, rather than the above mentioned.
-- swimswim, Jul 09 2009


Strictly speaking this is not a vacuum cleaner, instead it is a creepy, patient insect-like thing that will seek to clamber all over your room. It's main role is to look and remember so it can subsequently return and inspect. Researchers have been working on these robots for some time and this is my prefered application for them - to infest your house and look at your things.

It be more likely to skitter over that puppie's present, rather than try to spread it about ...

I see the optional cleaning aspect as again mirroring something that an insect does, hence I set it more as nudging, tugging or transporting than hoovering.
-- Aristotle, Jul 09 2009


//It be more likely to skitter over that puppie's present, rather than try to spread it about ...//

Or perhaps it will try to put the present back where it came from?
-- swimswim, Jul 09 2009


I want one of these Fedexed to my house by approximately yesterday [+]
-- BunsenHoneydew, Jul 09 2009


medicos will scale them down for internal ordering. councils will scale them up for city parking and homeless problems.

Butlers, housekeepers are to expensive, right?
-- wjt, Jul 09 2009


I love this. Big creeping bun from me. It's under the bed, nooooo I think it's behind the closet door...
-- blissmiss, Jul 10 2009


yep, love Ari's ideas even though some are a bit creepy....
-- po, Jul 10 2009


There are two key robotics/AI challenges in this.

Currently multi-legged robots are crawling all over some experimental spaces, as scientists learn to combine robotics and the study of insects, but if one was unleashed on a standard living space it would probably trash it as it learnt to explore it!

Also object recognition and understanding is not what all that robust either. Could it tell the difference between your "Mad Scientist" magazines (which are to be kept in a filing box) and "Conquest Today" newspapers (which are to be recycled)? Probably not but it would be an excellent challenge ...
-- Aristotle, Jul 11 2009



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