The Electrolux Trilobite is a

robotic vacuum cleaner A robotic vacuum cleaner, sometimes called a robovac or a roomba as a generic trademark, is an autonomous robotic vacuum cleaner which has a limited vacuum floor cleaning system combined with sensors and robotic drives with programmable controll ...

manufactured by the Swedish corporation

Electrolux Electrolux AB () is a Swedish multinational home appliance manufacturer, headquartered in Stockholm. It is consistently ranked the world's second largest appliance maker by units sold, after Whirlpool. Electrolux products sell under a variety ...

. It takes its name from the extinct arthropod, which scoured the ocean's floor. The prototype cleaner was first seen on the BBC television programme, ''

Tomorrow's World ''Tomorrow's World'' is a former British television series about contemporary developments in science and technology. First transmitted on 7 July 1965 on BBC1, it ran for 38 years until it was cancelled at the beginning of 2003. The ''Tomorro ...

'', in May 1996, when it was demonstrated by presenter

Philippa Forrester Philippa Clare Ryan Forrester (born September 1968) is a British television and radio presenter, producer and author. Throughout her career, Forrester has presented shows such as CBBC, ''Tomorrow's World'', Crufts, ''The Heaven and Earth Show'' ...

(actually announced by press release in the UK on 1 Dec 1997 ). It was the world's first commercially available autonomous vacuum cleaner, introduced as a product in 2001, model ZA1. A revision was released as Version 2.0 in 2004, model ZA2.

Description

The Trilobite contains a

vacuum cleaner A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum or a hoover, is a device that causes suction in order to remove dirt from floors, upholstery, draperies, and other surfaces. It is generally electrically driven. The dirt is collected by either a ...

and a removable roller brush capable of working on deep-pile carpet. It has the ability to map rooms and avoid obstacles by using

ultrasonic sensor Ultrasonic transducers and ultrasonic sensors are devices that generate or sense ultrasound energy. They can be divided into three broad categories: transmitters, receivers and transceivers. Transmitters convert electrical signals into ultrasou ...

s (on the Mark 2 model also

infrared Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of Light, visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from ...

). It recharges itself on a charging base, which it automatically finds when has completed its cleaning task or its power runs low. The Trilobite will indicate when the dustbin needs to be emptied. Its

s allow it to come within 1" of objects without colliding with them. This object detection is fairly reliable, but sometimes fails if the

robot A robot is a machine—especially one programmable by a computer—capable of carrying out a complex series of actions automatically. A robot can be guided by an external control device, or the control may be embedded within. Robots may be ...

approaches an object with a sharp corner. In this case, the ultrasonic beam is not reflected, and the Trilobite will gently bump into the object. Because the Trilobite stops a short distance from walls and other objects, it leaves small areas that are not fully cleaned. Magnetic strips are used to block off areas that the Trilobite should not enter, and

sensors (on the Mark 2 model) protect it from falling down stairs or off ledges. Electrolux has discontinued the Trilobite, removing any product information from its website, referencing instead its Wikipedia page for information. In September 2016, Electrolux introduced the successor to the Trilobite, the MotionSense. An international version of the teaser video was released on January 9, 2017.

Patents describing features of the Trilobite

* WO 02067744 (A1) Wheel support arrangement for an autonomous cleaning apparatus. * WO/1997/040734 Autonomous device. * USPTO 7647144 Obstacle sensing system for an autonomous cleaning apparatus. * US5935179A System and device for a self orienting device (the ultrasonic detection system)

References

External links

Electrolux Trilobite homepage
(archived copy of trilobite.electrolux.com)
Everyday Robots Review: Electrolux Trilobite Robotic Vacuum

BBC1 television listings for Friday 10 May 1996
{{Electrolux Robotic vacuum cleaners 1996 robots Robots of Sweden Electrolux products Rolling robots

Description

Patents describing features of the Trilobite

See also

References

External links