October 20, 2006 10:21 AM PDT
Look out, Roomba. Evolution Robotics is looking to muscle in on
your turf (er, carpet?). The Pasadena, Calif., company has a navigation
system called NorthStar that's used in a robotic vacuum cleaner for
specialty retailer The Sharper Image, among other gear; now it says it
has a deal with a major appliance maker to develop a vacuum-bot set to
sweep into living rooms in early 2008. Seen here is Sharper Image's $99
Evac. NorthStar projects lights onto a ceiling or other surface so that
a detector on the robot can triangulate to find its location.
Photo by The Sharper Image
