Contender, 3rd in the World


Felix Kilbertus


Robopet




>>what is it?
a vacuum cleaner concept with petlike character

>>what makes this design different or better? (e.g. materials, research)
this robotic vacuum cleaner is designed to be a useful pet to live with, comparable to a cat that is useful (as to catch mice) and also has a loveable personality. its primary function is to keep your appartment clean, it vacuums the whole floor area. it adapts to the specific environment of a house by exploring the environment, all you need to do is to buy the robot and the recharching/dust collecting unit, carry it home and turn it on. one does not have to program the device nor do you have to monitor it all the time. you can of course make corrections and set certain times when to clean or not, but it works with out any prior knowledge or involvement of the owner. the secondary function, its social behaviour is just as important. you can watch and interact as this tiny robot cleans and learns about your appartment, about the people and other pets. i think it is tremendously interesting to study how this artificial pet and a real pet, maybe a dog would get along.

technically the system consists of two separate units, one is the free-moving rovering robot which does the active cleaning, and the stationary unit which provides the rover unit with navigation data, recharches the batteries and stores the dust in a reasonably sized container, so one doesn't need to dispose the cleaning bag constantly. the actual cleaning takes place all the way up front, the air is sucked in in front of the front tires, so that robopet will only go where it has vacuumed before, so that it will not spread the dirt around. the cream colored tires are symbolizing that idea of cleaness.

the rover navigates with the data obtained from its experience and information obtained thru infrared sensors, which measure the distance to objects in your appartments, such as walls, doors, slippers and pets. (see detail1.jpg + detail2.jpg) it also has sensors on top, so it can see how much space is there under your bed (and doesn't hurt his face) .

aesthetically i indended a warm and animal-like design which does not neglect its artificiality. i wanted a to show the character of a pet that is high-tech and feels that way too, without compromising a friendly, organic and appealing character. if you compare it to other designs of similar technological and characteristic layout you usually find either extremly sweet, organic and kitsch designs boasting personality or a cold assembly of wires and electronics which doesn't really appeal emotionally to most people. this way i not only defined the actual shape but also the color, which is a pearl metallic redish orange with a matte finish. reddish orange because it has a warm feeling to it, but still is a mainly artifical shade, and matte to stress softness and organic character. the cream-white tires are to show that robopet is a clean and sweet pet.

the concept combines near-future robotic technology, artificial intelligence, cybernetics and state of the art vacuum cleaning technology (after the bagless dyson principle).

>>what hardware and software were used to design it?
sketching, cibatool, internet and technical literature for research on technogy, other media for lifestyle reasearch, future trends.

>>how is it intended to be manufactured or produced?
it is thought to be produced in similar shape in the near future, within the next 5 years aproximatly. the problem is NOT the inavailablilty of technical components, as all the technology already exists or is under development in many places, such as at many universities worldwide and major companies invest heavily in this kind of technology, like sony, honda or others in the automotive and electronics field. so the reason why it cannot be produced right now is mainly due to extreme costs (as this technology is still not widely available on the market) and also the size of this robot, which must be so compact in order to function as intended so that more development and research is necessary.

the size of the rover unit is extremly compact, so it can reach areas where regular vacuum cleaners can't go, e.g. under beds, in tight corners. it measures about 17 centimeters in length, 15 in width and less than 10 centimeters height.

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