Fukitorimushi cleaning bot is just like a pet -- only cleaner, quieter, better behaved, and more pillow-shaped
Panasonic recently unveiled a new kind of cleaning robot at the Tokyo Fiber Senseware Expo in Milan. Called Fukitorimushi, the small service bot is covered in Nanofront, a nanofiber polyester fabric which can absorb oil and pick up small paricles of dust. It moves a bit like an earthworm, crawling about the floor using several light sensors to root out the dirt, and can navigate itself back to its charging station when it needs more juice. Designers of the spiffy little guy seem to think that owners will bond to it as if it were a pet. No word on when these dudes will be commercially available, but we'll let you know as soon as we score one of our very own -- we're thinking about calling it Sal. There's a video of it doing its rather unnerving business after the break.
[Via Robots.net]
[Via Robots.net]



















i love how it sounds when you seperate the name into sylabels
fuk-it-or-i-mushi
syllables*
maybe to someone who doesn't understand how japanese works
it would be pronounced foo-kee-tor-ee-moo-shi
@Uncontrol
You are correct.
The name is actually a pun for Shakutorimushi (inch worm) combined with the verb Fuku (to wipe). Many Japanese products are named in this kind of manner.
The WipeWorm? Awesome.
They should have just called it "Fuk-u".
Time to start hoarding gold... the Cybermats have arrived.
There are at least 300 different kinds of awesomeness in a name like "Fukitorimushi".
Very weird. Now our robotic overlords can pretend to be pillows and devour our heads while we slumber! Unacceptable!
There were no survivors.
Once they mount you in your sleep it's a long slow and freakish death.
"devour our heads"? I'll get the crowbar.
This kind of reminds me of a cross between a Cylon and Gremlins. They're cute and cuddly but if you feed them past midnight, they'll turn in to giant spider-like robots that will start destroying the city.
I was just thinking that if the light was red, and the body was black or silver, that it could be a Cylon inchworm.
It turned red at one point, I think it detected dirt or something.
Either way, freaky as hell and I want 10 to perpetually roam the halls of my dimly-lit lair.
My cat would love this.....
Oh yeah, this is a cat toy of epic sorts.
Holy crap that's slow..
Can't wait to get one and put a slimy green jellylike costume on it, and set it loose in the house. xD
"...Foreign Contaminant..."
MO!
You want it to race about at 50 mph?
The slow speed would be less likely to scare pets. Plus it is not like you have to wait for it to do it's job. You start it up and go do something else.
I was expecting it to be a pillow that moved around like an inch worm or something. Honestly, I'm a little disappointed due to the lackluster.
lASSt :)
L ASS T
And thus they came to accept the larval state of their future robot overlords...
Anything that does housework is welcome at my place! At least it doesn't mess up the place/ drink beer/ hog the TV remote.
if the cleaning bot is cleaner... than what's the use of having it?
I stick with my preferred method of wrapping my ferret in a swiffer cloth, it's cuter and faster.
You can use the WipeWorm bot to absorb your blood after your ferret went nuts.
Best of both worlds if you will.
Do you really need to "wrap" a Swiffer around your ferret? I have four of them and after their daily play-time the bunch are always covered in dust-bunnies and under furniture filth. No wonder, they climb into the shower with me in the morning... Then again, I doubt the "cleaning" they do could ever offset the doo doo accidents they keep depositing in the f***ing corner! *grumble grumble*
A crawling cylon o_O
When can I expect to win one of these on Engadget's recession antidote drawings?
This makes me go awwwwwwwwwww
If you got two of this worms and the first one gets dirty, will the second one hump the first and start a new wave of wierdness?
Ah, just like when I installed two anti virus programs as a kid. They both attacked each other, resulting in a destroyed computer.
Where does the dirt go? Do they poop it out as they go? Which bodes the question, can they decide which is dirt and which is poop, otherwise...GROSS!
They don't take the dirt inside, they are wiping the floors. So they get a nice dirty belly I assume and need their human slaves to wash them off.
There are some other awesome exhibits from that same exhibition in the related videos. The one with the drops of water that form words and then just roll off when thy get too big is cool to watch.
I prefer 'mo' the little robot cleaner from the movie Wall-e
Yeah me too... :)
Not that I have children but I can see these becoming robot parts in a pillow case quickly. If you live alone these might be warranted. I like the auto-docking charging feature. If my roommates old Roomba had this it would have solved the 20 minute battery problem. No one wants to have to babysit their robo-cleaner it defeats the purpose so thumbs up.
I'll take eight.
Huh, I'd rather save the money and take 10 minutes to sweep the floor myself. :P
Swiffer vs. Fukitorimushi, Fight!
paricles?
for god's sake, can't you guys proofread?
those things could clean your kitchen floor in just under 14 hours!
Wow, I don't think I'm bonding to that thing like a pet. The creepiness factor while watching it worm its way across the floor is a bit too high for me.
These robots always assume stuff I cannot provide, a smooth non-carpeted floor with no objects strewn that are NOT meant to be disposed of in the trash.