Dummies, Wireless

Chapter 19: More Than Ten Devices to Connect to Your Wireless Network
The following list highlights some other product ideas that manufacturers
are working on now. We can’t yet offer price points or tell you when these
products will hit the market, but expect them to come soon:
� Robotic garbage taker-outers: Robotic firms are designing units that
take the trash out for you, on schedule, no matter what the weather —
simple as that.
� Robotic mail collectors: A robotic mail collector goes and gets the mail
for you. Neither snow, nor rain, nor gloom of night, nor winds of change,
nor a nation challenged can stay them from the swift completion of their
appointed rounds. New wirelessly outfitted mailboxes tell you (and the
robots) when your mail has arrived.
� Robotic snow blowers: Manufacturers are working to perfect robotic
snow blowers that continually clear your driveway and sidewalks
while snow falls.
� Robotic golf ball retrievers: These bots retrieve golf balls. Initially
designed for driving range use, they’re being modified for the
home market.
� Robotic guard dogs: Robots that can roam areas and send back audio
and video feeds are coming to the market. These new versions of man’s
best friend can sniff out fires or lethal gases, take photos of burglars, and
send intruder alerts to homeowners’ cell phones. Some have embedded
artificial intelligence (AI) to act autonomously and independently. Check
out the dragonlike Sanyo Banryu or its R2D2-like successor TMSUK’s
Mujiro Rigurio, the Mitsubishi Wakamaru, Takenaka Engineering’s Mihari
Wan, and others emerging even as we write this book.
� Robotic gutter cleaners: A range of spiderlike robots is available that
can maneuver on inclines, such as roofs, and feature robotic sensors
and arms that can clean areas.
� Robotic cooks: Put the ingredients in, select a mode, and wait for your
dinner to be cooked — it’s better than a TV dinner, for sure.
� Robotic pooper scoopers: The units we have discovered roam your yard
in search of something to clean up and then deposit the findings in a
place you determine.
The world is still getting used to robots and their limitations. More than one
company has canceled its robotic development programs until the market is
more rational about its expectations. Early household robots were panned in
the market because people expected them to act like people — to cook them
dinner and scratch their backs on demand. The market success of the iRobot
purpose-built robots has shown that buyers want robots that do something
and do it well.
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