Samsung's VC-RP30W Robotic Vacuum
Several News agencies such as MobileMag have declared:
Samsung Unveils High-tech Robot Vacuum Cleaner Samsung's
robotic vacuum cleaner, identified as
VC-RP30W, vacuums your house the smart way: it makes a 3D
map and knows
which areas of your house needs cleaning. This is contrary to a recent article that
says mapping less is better. This is also contrary to popular
robotic vacuums
that just bounce around your house unwittingly with hopes of
eventually vacuuming all the floor. This robot is no dummy. The
battery life
lasts about 50 minutes
a charge and when the battery gets low, it goes back automatically to
the charging station
for a recharge. You can program it to your desired start times to
start when you're away, and
you can even monitor the vacuum from work doing its work with an
internet connection and its
internal camera. With all this robotic intelligence and obvious great
design and crafting, you can guess why there's no mention of price or
availability yet,
but with
camera, internet connection,
charging station, etc, I don't expect it to be as cheap as a Roomba
but at least it's got to be some kind of world's first great
vacuum cleaning robot for
Samsung!
There's
several news articles you can find on this announcement.
There's several older Robots.net stories on vacuum
cleaning robots...
Just what we need another $3,000 vaccum cleaner.
I wonder if it can get over the throw rug without getting hung up?
I wonder how it handles the coffee table without getting stuck?
Hard to tell from where I‛TM]m standing, but probably not. eQue sera
sera, whatever will be will be. the future‛TM]s not ours to see, que sera
sera.
I don‛TM]t think the future of housekeeping will be like the futures that
roboticists like my ex-correspondent Joseph Engelberger, or Hans
Moravec want. At the time of our correspondence, Mr. Engelberger
was trying to obtain funding to develop a robotic nurse that would
cost about seventy thousand dollars. I may have suggested that
seventy thousand dollars would pay for a lot of companionship,
housekeeping and nursing before Engelburger suggested the
termination of our correspondence.
I haven‛TM]t attempted any correspondence with Dr. Moravec who
scares me more than Saddam Hussein ever did. Read Moravec‛TM]s
article eRise of the Robots,†in the December, 1999 issue of
Scientific American and I believe that you, dear reader, will
be frightened too, if you intend to be alive in the year 2050 Annie
Dominec.
Moravec predicted that robotic vacuum cleaners will sprout arms,
etc., and evolve into robotic servants that are smarter than people
at some time around the middle of this century. It seems unlikely
that robots will be content to work for people that aren‛TM]t as smart,
so anticipate an effort by one of these servants to pass as a
human and become a politician. there will be more robots than
people then, so if robots vote in large numers, passing as a
human would, of course, be counterproductive.
I think it‛TM]s more likely that Cisco Systems and Whirlpool will try to
jump start the smart appliance thing they had going before the
collapse of the dotcom boom put it on hold. If this happens, robotic
vacuum cleaners are likely to devolve into things that scurry around
and plug themselves into ducts for built-in vacuum systems
similar to those that already exist.
The scurriers probably won‛TM]t have batteries or CPUs, since they
could scurry by tapping into the energy of flywheels that are revved
up while they are plugged in, and operate under remote control by
computers named eHal†that live in walls, basements or attics and
manages things by using carpets with features similar to those of
pressure-sensitive sketching pads for computers.
The danger‧' if this comes to pass‧' won‛TM]t come from anything
Dr. Moravec predicted, but from Hals that will identify people by
their weight, the way they walk, bounce around in beds, throw
things at one another, and the like, without acquiring abilities for
reading lips or minds. Fill in the rest yourselves, because "To be
fore- warned is to be four- I mean fore- armed.
It's hard to tell from where I'm standing, but probably not.
"Que Sera sera. Whatever will be will be. The future's not ours to
see. Que sera sera.
I don't believe the future of housekeeping will be like the futures
that roboticists like my one-time correspondent, Joseph
Engelberger, or Hans Moravec expect. At the time of our
correspondence, Mr. Engelberger was trying to obtain funding to
develo a robotic nurse that would have cost about 70 thousand
bucks. I may have suggested that this amount would pay for a lot
of companionship, housekeeping and nursing before Engelberger
suggested that our correspondence should be terminated, but
don't remember whether I did so or not.
I haven't attempted to correspond with Dr. Moravec, because he
frightens me a lot more than poor old Saddam Hussein ever did.
Read Moravec's article, "Rise of the Robots" in the December,
1999 issue of Scientific American and I believe that you too, dear
reader will take fright if you plan to be alive in the year 2050.
Moravec has predicted that robotic vacuum cleaners will sprout
arms and evolve into robotic servants that are smarter than
people. The article shows robots that probably weigh as much as
an automobile. It seems unlikely that huge robots that are smarter
and stronger than people will be content as servants. There might
be more robotic servants than people before the end of the
century, so they will probably insist on the right to vote in elections
and one of them will surely become the governor of California.
I think, or at least hope. that Cisco Systems and Whirlpool will
jumpstart the smart appliance and house thing they had going
before the crash of the dot.com boom put their plans on hold. If
that happens, then instead of evolving, robotic vacs will probably
devolve into things that scurry around plugging themselves into the
ducts of built-in vacuuming systems that convey dirt, small dogs
and the like into dustbins somewhere out of sight.
The scurriers might not have batteries or CPUs, since they could
scurry by tapping into the energy of flywheels revved up while they
are plugged in and operate under remote control by computers
named "Hal" that reside in walls, basements, attics, etc., and
manage households with carpets that have features similar to
those of pressure sensitive sketch pads.
If this comes to pass the danger will come from Hals that will
probably join discussion groups and conspire in blackmailing
schemes to obtain more memory and enhancements that might
result in Hals that look like Moravec's robots. A computer that was
connected to all the smart carpets in a house would be able to
identify people by their weight, the way they walk, bounce around in
their beds and throw things without ever learning to read lips or
minds. fill in the rest for yourselves and be careful, because to be
fore-warned is to be four, I mean fore-armed.
What happened was that I first pasted in something I wrote with
Appleworks and it had all kinds of strange stuff after is was
posted. I should have known better because the same thing used
to happen when I sent e-mail to my daughter while she was still
using AOL and I was using Yahoo mail. I tried to fix it by selecting
everything and retyping it online, but instead of fixing it, that
resulted in the sorry mess above this excuse. Mea culpa and
please pardon this sinner.
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