Not sure how we missed this robotic vacuum but this bugger uses lasers to scan your room and grab dust and lint as it goes. It’s quite cute how this little fellow does everything the Roomba does but, seemingly, it does it better.

One more video after the jump.

You can pick the robot up right here for $399.

[Lou! Vacuum! Or make the robot do it!]

This is how Russians melt snow and ice during their intense winters—by strapping a Klimov VK-1 engine from Mig-15 onto a truck. I think one of these would have taken care of the snow at the end of my driveway (and probably my entire lawn, neighbors lawn, and the woods behind my house) no problem. [Link]
This homemade flamethrower was designed to kill mosquitoes in the home, but I think it’s safer to use one of these outside on the ice covering your front steps. Then again, maybe not. [Link]
Now THIS is what I really needed for my driveway—and autonomous Roomba-esque show shovel. The I-Shovel can automatically detect snowfall accumulation and clear the driveway when it determines that the depth is significant enough for action. [I-Shovel via Link]
I remember icicles the size of swords hanging from my gutters during the winter. Needless to say, that is some dangerous shit—and all that ice is hard on the gutters themselves. The solution could be to install Guttergloves to melt the ice before it accumulates. [Gutterglove via Link]
I’ve never used one of these before, but an electric ice scraper with a heating element makes sense. Although, I doubt that most of these things really crank out enough heat to be practical. [Amazon]
It doesn’t get any simpler than this guys—if you don’t have a garage, put a windshield cover on your car to prevent that situation where you’re late for work, and you frantically scrape out just enough of a spot on the windshield to see, but your peephole kind of fogs up going down the road and you wind up in a ditch. Yeah, we’ve all been there. [Amazon]
Dealing with chains and snow tires is a pain in the ass. Supposedly, these fabric and rubber Snowbootz are easier to install and provide great traction in the snow and ice. Consumer Reports didn’t agree with that assessment completely, but they did find that the system worked well on ice and packed snow—but not so well on soft snow. So, at the very least, it should prevent this type of situation. [Snowbootz]
If you can’t beat the ice, you might as well make it work for you. The Eternal Ice Drop is basically a spherical glass bulb with frozen water inside that you use to chill cognac. The idea is to perfectly chill the drink without watering it down. [5.5 Designers via Link]
Remember that scene in National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation where Chevy Chase blazes down a hill on a greased-up sled? Well, Ky Michaelson is living that with his homemade rocket sled. This thing should eliminate snow and ice, leaving nothing but a flaming streak of Earth in your wake. [Rocketman via Link]
Have you ever busted your ass slipping on ice in the driveway? It’s painful and embarrassing. One way to conveniently prevent that problem is to wear a pair of boots with reversible cleats. When you’re outside, the cleats can be turned to reveal steel studs that provide traction. When heading back indoors, the cleats can be turned around to a flat, rubber side. [Hammacher via Link]

By Evan Ackerman

We covered the Neato Robotics XV-11 robot vacuum in detail on BotJunkie back in December, and last night at Digital Experience here at CES we got a chance to check it out in person. Just to recap, the Neato is unlike most other robot vacuums in that it isn’t a gussied up Roomba knockoff but rather an original design, the flagship feature of which is a laser based room navigation system that can clean much faster and more efficiently than a Roomba’s pseudo-random patterns. Check out our earlier post on BotJunkie for more details, or just watch the demo, narrated by Neato Robotics CEO Max Safai, right after the break.

Notice how the XV-11 finished cleaning its little area in exactly the time of the demo… That’s precision PR, folks. Seriously though, it’s striking just how different the XV-11’s cleaning technique is from a Roomba. It undocks, looks around the room, and then makes one circuit around the wall (notice how precisely it avoids its dock) followed by an overlapping pattern to cover the center of the floor. And then, it’s done. It moves slower than a Roomba does, but since it knows where it’s been and where it’s going, overall it cleans much, much faster.

The XV-11 only has one brush on the bottom, and it’s supposed to be really good at not getting all kinds of stuff tangled up in it. The dustbin is fairly spacious, and lifts out of the top of the robot, making it somewhat easier to access without either having to lift the robot or get dirt all over the floor, as with a Roomba.

It remains to be seen how well the XV-11 performs in a more realistic environment, like my living room, which is full of furniture, hardwood to carpet transitions, electrical cables, and miscellaneous random crap all over the floor. The key here is going to be whether or not the XV-11 can actually do what the Roomba was supposed to be able to do: vacuum by itself without you having to prep the floor and pay attention to make sure that it doesn’t get stuck, try to smash things, or kill your pets.

You’ll be able to get an XV-11 in March, for $399… It’s significantly more expensive than an entry level 500 series Roomba, but it also has the potential to be a significantly better vacuum.

[ Neato Robotics ]

When you think of a robotic vacuum cleaner, there’s a good chance that the Roomba comes to mind. That, or Rosie from the Jetsons. Well turn off those old cartoons because Asus (specifically their subsidiary AGAiT) is throwing their hat into the vacuum cleaning ring with the ECleaner.

The ECleaner looks very similar to the Roomba, but has a few tricks up its sleeve that the competition doesn’t. In addition to its vacuuming duties, it also has a 6000-hour UV light to disinfect the area that it is sweeping. If your room could use a little freshening up, it can also spread a fragrance of your choice wherever it goes. There still aren’t a lot of details currently, but we do know that they are shooting for a $150 price when the device makes its debut.

[ AGAiT ] VIA [ SlipperyBrick ]