iRobot Patent Filing Hints at Lawn Mowing Robot Update
The folks behind the Roomba robot vacuum appear to have another robotic helper up their sleeves. In this case, it’s of the lawn mowing variety, but the final design is anything but final if the wide variety of shapes, configurations and features are any indication. A lawn-mowing Roomba-like robot… Lawmba? Loomba? Mowba.
According to a detailed 84-page filing, various configurations are on the table, including all-electric model and a gasoline-electric hybrid. The filing also depicts several acoustic and optical sensors that will allow the robot to “avoid hard surfaces, water and other barriers,” in addition to its main job: cut grass. The robot can even sense uncut grass and make sure the blades are aligned properly.
Other features gleaned from the filing by Robot Stock News:
- A possible edge trimmer along the outside edge of the chassis.
- The possibility of collecting clippings and depositing them at a specified location
- The possibility of using RFID tags or proximity sensors to avoid running into pets or people
- The possibility of learning your lawn in the first cutting and remembering it for future cuttings
- The inclusion of grass-combing technology to ensure that the grass is fluffed and properly oriented for cutting
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N78 competition entry.
Most important feature of the Nokia N78 Smart phone and why?
“Geotagging”, conversationally superior to “GPS” at dinner party(am serving “duck aux l’oranges” but, as out of duck and oranges, using mince and peas).
the for my family. aying connected: compact Nokia N78 puts online communities in the palm of the hand Fully-featured multimedia computer optimized for sharing music, images and ‘new discoveries’ Mobile World Congress 2008, Barcelona, Spain/Espoo, Finland – Nokia today introduced the Nokia N78, a multimedia computer that combines music, navigation and photography with the benefits of mobility. The Nokia N78 is designed to take advantage of the new suite of Nokia services, including the Nokia Music Store, Nokia Maps, and Share on Ovi – a new online service that enables consumers to share their personal media. The Nokia N78 is expected to start shipping during the second quarter of 2008, with an estimated retail price of approximately 350 euros, before taxes. The Nokia N78 packs a powerful range of technologies, including integrated A-GPS, with free Nokia Maps, WLAN and high-speed HSPDA 3G connectivity, a 3.2 megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics, and support for microSD memory card, currently available at up to 8 GB, to store favourite music and media. The novelties of the N78 are geotagging of photos and an integrated FM transmitter that allows music to be played on any FM radio, in a car or at home. “The Nokia N78 truly lives up to the Nseries promise of delivering unparalleled mobile multimedia experiences with the very latest technologies and services,” says Jonas Geust, who oversees Nokia’s Nseries devices. “The Nokia N78 empowers people to explore their passions, enjoy their favourite music and share their experiences with others and is set to continue the range of well-balanced Nseries devices such as the successful Nokia N73.” Search, snap, tag and share Taking advantage of its integrated A-GPS functionality and 3.2 megapixel camera, the Nokia N78 introduces the increasingly popular online practice of geotagging’ to a Nokia device. The Nokia N78 automatically tags images with capture location metadata, making it possible to view the capture location on a map either on the device itself, or online. With its high-speed internet connectivity, over WLAN or HSDPA, uploading photos and videos to online communities like Share on Ovi, Flickr or YouTube is a single key stroke away. Music remains a core feature of the Nokia N78 and Nokia’s range of Nseries multimedia computers. In addition to the up to 8GB of memory, internal speakers and support for standard 3.5mm headphones, the N78 also comes with Nokia Internet Radio, giving instant access to thousands of radio stations around the world.
You can download iRobot’s patent at Patent Retriever http://www.patentretriever.com as a free PDF file