Robots really need to start doing more of our stuff. I mean, they’re going to be our overlords soon enough, so we might as well enjoy their servitude while we can. Beef up your roster of robot slaves with the Roboscooper, an autonomous robot that can collect stuff strewn around your floors and stow them on his back.
Created by WowWee, the wheeled automaton delivers both playful robot looks and excellent utility, scooping up scattered objects that are too big for your Roomba to haul. Unfortunately, it’s got limited strength and is only able to take on objects weighing one ounce or less. Not bad, since that means it can pick up light objects, such as plastic toys, dirty socks and dropped food, all while taking laps around your joint without supervision.
The Roboscooper is a 13 x 8.5 x 8 inch (l x w x h) autonomous collector robot, equipped with a robust set of mobility features, including six rubber wheels (designed to handle most home terrains), multi-directional mobility (it can go forwards, backwards, left and right) and a pivot system (for dumping stuff on its hands to the cargo bay). The self-adjusting movement draws input from onboard infrared sensors (located on the eyes), allowing it to recognize obstacles on its path up to 12 feet away. If you want more control over areas it traverses, you can also use the included remote.
Additional sight sensors on the hands allow it to recognize when it has littered objects within range, which it promptly picks up and deposits into the back-mounted loading area. Alternatively, you can set it to whack strewn items to the side, in case you’re just looking to wreak havoc in your roommate’s meticulous cityscape model. When it encounters objects weighing over an ounce or it gets stuck in any position, the robot plays a preset message asking for some help.
Currently available on preorder, Roboscooper is scheduled to ship on August 30. Price is an affordable $69.95.