Vacuum cleaning is one of the more tedious chores around the house. But robots like iRobot's popular Roomba can be brought in to automatically patrol your living room for dirt.
DIY robotics
Over in Japan, there's now a new house-cleaning robot called Beauto. Unlike the Roomba, this automated muck-sucker has an element of Blue Peter about it. Rather than an off-the-shelf product, you can build it yourself thanks to a software and hardware kit created by Japanese robot maker VStone.
When it's all put together, the Beauto is powered by four AAA batteries, whereupon it'll attempt to clean your house while you put your feet up. Unlike the Roomba, it won't crawl back to a charging station when it starts losing power. It will presumably just stop. So rechargeable batteries are advisable.
You can also add parts or hack the Beauto to make it bring your stuffed toys to life, Tokyomango.com reported.
