The Looj was a
rain gutter
A rain gutter, eavestrough, eaves-shoot or surface water collection channel is a component of a water discharge system for a building. It is necessary to prevent water dripping or flowing off roofs in an uncontrolled manner for several reasons ...
(eavestrough) cleaning
domestic robot
A domestic robot is a type of service robot, an autonomous robot that is primarily used for household chores, but may also be used for education, entertainment or therapy. While most domestic robots are simplistic, some are connected to Wi-Fi ...
made and sold by
iRobot
iRobot Corporation is an American technology company that designs and builds consumer robots. It was founded in 1990 by three members of MIT's Artificial Intelligence Lab, who designed robots for space exploration and military defense. The com ...
.
The Looj was not an
autonomous robot
An autonomous robot is a robot that acts without recourse to human control. The first autonomous robots environment were known as Elmer and Elsie, which were constructed in the late 1940s by W. Grey Walter. They were the first robots in history ...
, but rather a remote-controlled robot patterned after a toy tank with a power drill mounted on the front.
Description
The Looj was a tall and wide robot that fit inside most gutters to clean out debris stuck inside them, such as leaves and pine needles. It had long treads on its side which allowed it to move inside the gutter, and an auger attached to its front. The auger, spinning flexible flaps at 500 RPM, dislodged and removed debris inside the gutter by flinging it sideways into the air. The device also had a detachable handle/remote, that was used to carry and operate the robot.
The first Looj models were powered by an internal 7.2 V
NiCad rechargeable battery, which must be removed for charging. Later models use a
Li-ion rechargeable battery instead.
The Looj was discontinued in 2017.
Critical reception
The Looj was received favourably by reviewers prior to release. Crunch Gear said "If you place your ladder at a corner of the house – and your gutters are wide enough – you can easily clean out two sides of a house in a few minutes."
Looj won the ''Best of CES Innovations Award: Home Appliances'' in 2008.
References
External links
Looj product page
IRobot
Domestic robots
2000s robots
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