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Tide is making the first laundry detergent for space
Tide and NASA are developing the first laundry detergent meant for space, and it will remove stains aboard the ISS in 2022.
Laundroid company folds before its giant robot does
A small part of us always knew the Laundroid was too good to be true. The black obelisk, developed by Japanese company Seven Dreamers, was supposed to be a washing machine, dryer, ironing and laundry-folding robot rolled into one. It was the perfect appliance, in short, for chore-dodging so-and-sos who hate dealing with grimy clothes. But that dream has come to a predictable end. Today, Seven Dreamers filed for bankruptcy in Japan, all but ensuring its halo product will never reach store shelves. According to Teikoku Databank, a private credit research agency, the company owes 2.25 billion yen ($20.1 million USD) to 200 creditors.
Watch this giant laundry-folding robot handle a stack of shirts
This isn't the first time we've seen a laundry-folding robot. In fact, the last time we saw one, it turned out to be a faked demo. So when we saw that the company Foldimate had turned up again to this year's CES, we were suspicious. This time, though, the startup came with a working prototype in tow.
Samsung's 'AI-powered' washer is just trying to save you time
IFA 2017 isn't all about smartphones, smartwatches and cute droids. The event is also a chance for companies to showcase their latest innovations for home appliances. Samsung did its part this year with the WW8800M washer, which sports technology called QuickDrive that promises to complete a full load of laundry in just 39 minutes --typically, it's about 70. The company says it's able to do this without compromising washing performance, energy efficiency and fabric care, something that will matter deeply to people who are extra conscious of how they do their laundry. Oh, and it says AI is involved.
Samsung's FlexWash and FlexDry machines are laundry 'Inception'
The new FlexWash and FlexDry laundry machines from Samsung are, to put it simply, beastly. The front-loading compartment on the washer is five cubic feet alone, and that's not including the extra cubic foot added by the top-loader space. The FlexWash machine features dual washers and the FlexDry machine has dual dryers, making the whole system a feast of dryer-in-dryer and washer-in-washer action.
Samsung goes overboard to make you care about laundry
Let's be honest: it's hard to get excited about laundry machines. Even when they have neat party tricks like Amazon refills and smartphone apps, it really boils down to one question: does it clean your clothes properly? Samsung thinks it can do enough to make you sit up and take notice, though. It's unveiling a FlexWash + FlexDry laundry machine combo that includes both dual washers (which we've seen before) and dual dryers. You can completely clean your delicates without having to disrupt your main load, for instance, or run up to four loads at once if it's particularly busy.
Electrolux is testing Uber-like laundry machine sharing
You can already get rides from strangers and rent their rooms, but what if you could use their washers and dryers? Electrolux thinks it's worth a shot. CEO Jonas Samuelson tells the Financial Times that the appliance giant is testing a "laundry Uber" where you could pay to clean your clothes at someone else's home. This would require an abundance of connected machines to be viable, but it would help you recoup some of the cost of expensive equipment that stays idle most of the week.
ICYMI: Smart measuring leggings, 3D-printed Adidas and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-421397{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-421397, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-421397{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-421397").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: LikeAGlove's new smart leggings that measure your body, then match you to the perfectly-fitted pair of jeans just went on pre-sale for $40. A new camera that reminds us of Lytro because of post-photo focusing abilities uses spider eyes as inspiration for its rig of 16 lenses with different focal lengths. But, it'll cost you at least $1,300. So soak that in for awhile. Meanwhile Adidas wants to 3D-print midsoles that are designed specifically for customer's foot contours.
Meet the laundry-folding washing machine of our lazy-ass future
Socks are the hardest. For a future washing machine that washes, dries and then folds the results, it's one of the small barriers that remains in that latter stage. But as a research project that started back in 2008, Laundroid is finally getting there. Next year, the collaboration between housing firm Daiwa House, electronics company Panasonic and Seven Dreamers will start offering preorders, the year after that 'beta' machines, then folding machines for big institutions, with event full retail planned the year after that -- we'll be in 2019 by then. (That said, the all-in-one model is still at the in-development stage). There's no price and the presentation we saw added in a bunch of mosaic filtering on top as the shirt gradually got folded so you couldn't see how the thing actually works. But that's okay. We can wait. It's not going to stop us waiting our chore-dodging dreams to come true.
The Big Picture: How astronauts keep things clean
What should an astronaut do when he gets dirty? Take a meteor shower [groan]. But, what does an astronaut do when their space suit gets mucky in training? They get it laundered, just like anything else. Pictured above, a staff member from the Russian Space Training Center hangs out the freshly washed space suits of Russian cosmonaut Anatoly Ivanishin, NASA's U.S. flight engineer Kathleen Rubins, and Japanese space agency's flight engineer Takuya Onishi. The trio picked up a few stains after landing on water in training for a mission on the ISS. So, the suits can handle the high radiation of space, but not a spin in a dryer? [Image: Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP]
Laundrino ensures you'll never rely on your washing machine's timer again
We can't count the number of instances we've started a load of laundry in our washing machine and missed the timer go off, only to later find an odorous and damp pile of what should have been fresh garments. Luckily, the tried-and-trusted Arduino is stepping in to solve yet another first world problem. A fellow over at möp, möp! (apparently, a sub-blog of the Fellowship of Free Software Foundation Europe), had a relatable issue by way of a busted cycle-indicator. Rather than having to check the machine constantly or call a repairman, they decided on the obvious choice: hooking it up to an Arduino Uno and Ethernet shield. Now, the unit is programed to ping a web address over LAN that lets the user know whether the load-cycle is complete, and if so, how long it's been idle for. The poster's even been kind enough to detail the work and source code required, which you'll find by hitting the source link below. "Rinse and repeat" never seemed so fitting.
Lego Mindstorm NXT enlisted for shirt-folding robot
All we have to say about this shirt-folding robot is that it does a better job than we could ever hope to. And for that, we love it. Video is below.
Willow Garage PR2 robot learns to sort socks for $10k prize (video)
We've been following the evolution of the Willow Garage PR2 robot for a little over a year now, watching as it learned to mooch electricity and hustle pool sharks. That, as it turns out, was only the beginning. The robots are now up for general pre-order should anyone want one (priced well into the "if you have to ask" range, surely), and to celebrate that Willow Garage founder Scott Hassan put up $10k to sponsor a video contest of the PR2 robot doing some impressive things. The winner is a video called "Sockification" from a crew at UC Berkeley in which the PR2 shows some... enthusiastic sock sorting skills. You can see that one embedded below, along with our personal favorite: an ode to StrongBad and his lightswitch rave.
UC Berkeley researchers teach PR2 robot to fold towels
We've already seen Willow Garage's PR2 robot learn to roam offices in search of a power outlet, and it looks like some researchers at UC Berkeley have now helped it pull off its most impressive feat yet: folding towels. That may not sound like too hard a task, but it's actually proven to be quite a conundrum for robotic laundry researchers, since robots need to first pick up a towel from a pile and then somehow determine that this previously unseen shape is, in fact, a towel that can be folded. While it's still a long way from being the Roomba of laundry, the JR2 bot is now able to fold at the blistering speed of 25 minutes per towel, and the researchers are hopeful that the same computer vision-based approach can also be applied to a range of other tasks that have previously stumped robots. Head on past the break for the video -- don't worry, it's sped up.
Washing machine hacked to tweet when the load's done: @maytag, you listening?
We're truthfully not sure what's cooler: the fact that the above pictured washing machine tweets when it's done, or the fact that the above pictured washing machine still works. We're guessing that the geeks in the crowd would argue that it's clearly the former, and for those interested in a little proof / explanation, you can head on past the break for a video demonstration. But just so you know, it's highly unlikely that your Twittering washer will have any diehard followers. [Via technabob]
Haier's detergentless WasH20 washing machine
Washing machines that somehow remove the odors and spots from your garments sans the use of water have been around the block a time or two, and while we've heard a mad scientist claim that he discovered soap-free cleaning, it's Haier who's making him look brilliant. The detergentless WasH20 reportedly works by breaking down water molecules into OH- and H+ ions, and while we hardly recall the last chemistry course we took, we suppose we'll believe the claims for now. Apparently, the stains on the linens are "attracted and retained by ions of OH-, while the clothes are sterilized by the H+ ions." Word on the street has this one landing in France soon for around €699 ($957), but don't be surprised if your threads come out of the wash mutated, vaporized, or worst of all, smelling exactly like they did when they went in.[Thanks, Philippe T.]
It lives! The post-rinse cycle iPod
What happens when an iPod Nano meets a washing machine? Nothing good. Late last month, a writer over at the Seattlest left her iPod in her bike shorts. Which her husband kindly washed for her. Oops. Since bike clothes aren't thrown in the drier, the Nano was at least spared a tumble-dry on high heat, a small mercy. The battery, however, was drained. After connecting the Nano to a USB power source, she was able to recharge the battery and (yay!) found all her music and playlists still onboard. The buttons were initially a little sluggish, according to her follow-up report, but other than the Menu button they've recovered nicely for her training rides. The moral of this story? Check your pockets after you train and don't wash your iPod. The ending might not be as happy as this one.
Laundry alert by TV works better than computer pop-up, SMS
Back in July, we told you about a trio of Atlanta-area families that would take a set of internet-connected washer and dryers, erm, for a spin. For eight weeks, the families lived with Laundry Time, the Internet Home Alliance's trial of washer and driers, which notified families their whites are brighter via television, PC, or cellphone. As much as we'd love to be alerted as to when our spin cycle is done by text message, it turns out that the non-gadget-on-the-brain folks don't really take to it; of the three methods, only alert-by-television seemed to work well, and most found the cellphone messages too confusing. However, one participant, Lisa Gunning of Roswell, Georgia, pretty much summed up what we long for in such a system: "I love the pop-up notifications as I tend to forget everything when I am working . . . even when I'm not watching TV, one of the kids will come and remind me." The trial basically would seem to be pretty much a bust for Whirlpool, HP, Microsoft, Panasonic, Procter & Gamble, who funded the whole operation.
