British vacuum cleaner whiz James Dyson aims to take on iRobot
Vacuum cleaner wizard James Dyson has set his sights on outdoing iRobot (IRBT) in the robotic vacuum cleaner market. Dyson has invested $8.2 million in a new robotics laboratory at Imperial College London to develop an affordable Robot to carry out household chores, the British press reported this week. Dyson envisions developing a “new generation of robot that understands the world around them, will be able to clean the house, put out the bins and even keep an eye out for intruders,” he said, according to the Daily Mail . Dyson said the lab “has begun hiring up to 15 scientists who will work on developing robot vision systems that could be used in devices such as robot-controlled vacuums — a longstanding ambition of Dyson himself,” the Guardian reported. Dyson said he is “almost there” in producing an automatic vacuum cleaner with both good navigation skills and good suction, according to the Independent. Dyson’s long-term goal is to make a multipurpose robot that can do household chores, patrol the property for intruders and raise the alarm if there’s a fire, the Telegraph reported. The famed British inventor and designer says he is competing