The Tomy Dustbot: The Original Autonomous Vacuum Cleaner
Way before the Roomba automated vacuum robot was cleaning up after us there was another robotic house slave that was already doing that job: the Tomy Dustbot. First debuted in 1985, the Dustbot predates the Roomba by more than a decade. It features a built-in vacuum cleaner and edge detection to avoid obstacles, the Dustbot made use of a technology that is barely even in use today.
The Roomba is a semi-popular housekeeping device, but if the Tomy Dustbot would have claimed its share of the market and become the popular household appliance that it could have (and should have), then the number of homes putting mechanized cleaners to use would most likely be much more prevalent today than it is. The Dustbot’s “cutesy” appearance, with large, round bubble eyes and little robot arms holding a mini broom and dustpan, probably didn’t help the marketability of the device, as many consumers probably deemed it too childish and toy-like.
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