The article
Having to plug things into wall outlets is a recurring irritation of modern life. There are never enough of them, they're never where you need them to be, and when you do plug into one, you end up with tangles of cords strewn all over the floor.
Now Japanese researchers might have a solution, and it involves robots (of course). Their idea is to use autonomous mobile robots that deliver electricity to battery packs with outlets attached anywhere around the house, and they've built a proof-of-concept system to show how it would work.Instead of vacuuming, the Roomba simply drives around looking for any charging docks. The researchers modified these docks by attaching a battery pack, an inverter, and other electronics to them. When the Roomba attaches to a dock, it transfers energy from its own battery over to the dock's battery pack. And once the Roomba detects that its battery is depleted, it returns to a regular (unmodified) dock to recharge.
Now Japanese researchers might have a solution, and it involves robots (of course). Their idea is to use autonomous mobile robots that deliver electricity to battery packs with outlets attached anywhere around the house, and they've built a proof-of-concept system to show how it would work.Instead of vacuuming, the Roomba simply drives around looking for any charging docks. The researchers modified these docks by attaching a battery pack, an inverter, and other electronics to them. When the Roomba attaches to a dock, it transfers energy from its own battery over to the dock's battery pack. And once the Roomba detects that its battery is depleted, it returns to a regular (unmodified) dock to recharge.
Future implications
As the system gets refined, it might benefit from (say) something like a supercapacitor that could transfer electricity faster, or a dedicated mobile platform. Or on the other hand, sticking with the Roomba means that you could have a robot keeping your house cleanand keeping your stuff charged.It's easy to imagine how this concept could be more tightly integrated into a home environment. Perhaps something like a coffee table could include a robot dock and battery, with available outlets for you to plug your gadgets into to charge them.
And if you add a short-range wireless charging system, this coffee table would charge your devices whenever you set anything down, with no wires anywhere to be seen.
And if you add a short-range wireless charging system, this coffee table would charge your devices whenever you set anything down, with no wires anywhere to be seen.