04-08-2011, 03:03 PM
In-Home Coordinate System: Currently, many household, self-automated robots (lawn mowers or vacuum cleaners) covers area with a random algorithm, often using 5 hours to do something it should be done in 2 since it goes over the same spot may times. Usually, it uses an infrared or other sensor system to detect obstacles and boundaries. However, the path of the robot could be more controlled if there was a way to set up a ”coordinate system” for the robot to follow. This would allow the user to only clean/mow specific areas, or in a specific way. So, basically setting up mini-towers that are constantly communicating [wirelessly] with a robot about its location would save lots of time / energy (maybe? will need to do a wireless communication vs. running time energy comparison)
