Dustbot – The first street cleaning robot

A new street cleaning robot has been unveiled in Italy; it is believed to be the first robot that takes away rubbish from your house on demand.

The robot which stands almost as tall as a man and is commonly known as the ‘Dustbot’ can be called to your address via your mobile phone at any time of day. When the Dustbot arrives you select on the touch screen the type of rubbish you are disposing of, then place the trash in the drawer that extends from the machine. The Dustbot then takes the rubbish away and disposes of it.

The robot’s inventors hope it will put an end to fixed times for rubbish collection and have designed it to be used in tightly packed urban areas where it can be unfeasible for large rubbish trucks to work efficiently. The Italian designers state that the Dustbot project is aimed at designing, developing, testing and demonstrating a system for improving the management of urban hygiene by using a network of autonomous and cooperating robots.

The design works through a combination of GPS navigation and gyroscope technology keeping it upright and if you are wondering how it can negotiate the busy streets, there are a series of sensors to ensure it doesn’t bump into anything. Already several governments worldwide are showing an interest in the project but it is still only in the prototype stage at the moment.

Visit the official site at http://www.dustbot.org/ to find out more.