We want one. Scratch that: We
need one. Check out this ridiculously awesome kitchen-cleaning robot called the Readybot -- if this is what the future of robot enslavement looks like, sign us up. The creators, part of a homebrew group called the Readybot Robot Challenge, are dedicated to finding a breakthrough application for consumer robotics, and team leader Tom Benson says the answer is simple: "We think people want a robot that can clean the kitchen." Uh, yeah. The dishwasher sized Readybot prototype can currently do a little less than half of your common kitchen chores, but Benson says it'll eventually get to 80 percent -- which is about 100 percent more than we're currently doing. Fall in love with the video after the break.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ayman @ Feb 27th 2008 4:55PM
i can already see what the kids will do with the machine when it is cleaning....
daniel @ Feb 27th 2008 7:19PM
which is...
Aaron Heaberlin @ Feb 27th 2008 8:35PM
This looks like the tech out of that movie "Flubber" from like what '99 ?????
Now all it needs to do is actually cook the meal!
phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 4:56PM
Readybot vs. Puppy
Ready?
Fight!!!
Blackstar @ Feb 28th 2008 6:37AM
At that speed, the puppy will have gone for a walk, played with his chew toy, run up and down the stairs 57 times, opened a beer from the fridge, gotten me the paper and then peed on the robot's treds before "Readybot" would have "deployed" the squeegee.
I got 5 bucks on the dog. Any takers?
IndiaTech @ Feb 27th 2008 4:57PM
I am offended. Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich is the single best thing ever invented. NOT some R2-D2 wannabe.
bigbird @ Feb 27th 2008 4:58PM
But....WILL IT BLEND?????
Big Sam @ Feb 27th 2008 5:00PM
Will it do the blending for me?
bigbird @ Feb 27th 2008 5:02PM
Ummmmm Big Sam, that was MY joke......
Raheem @ Feb 27th 2008 5:05PM
Bigbird vs Big Sam
Ready?
Fight!
BigBirdUK @ Feb 27th 2008 5:17PM
haha - and now i get low ranked. m'kay.....
Do you think it will welcome it's Kitchen Robot overthrowing overlords with a well made cup of tea?
bobob @ Feb 27th 2008 5:49PM
the actual question should be:
Will it clean the Blender ??
Sauerkraut @ Feb 27th 2008 6:42PM
this isn't even a joke anymore you suck, it's about as funny as the economy
Motoken @ Feb 27th 2008 10:24PM
lol that one always gets me! but seriously, will it blend my smoothies!
I LOVE THE CAPS LOCK KEY @ Feb 27th 2008 11:04PM
You should well know by now that using the phrase "Will it blend" will always get you lowest ranked.
Seoultrain @ Feb 27th 2008 5:00PM
So you guys are currently doing 40% of your kitchen chores?
Confusing SAT math phrasing ain't got nothin' on me.
jonchwong @ Feb 28th 2008 5:20PM
Hahaha that was what I was thinking too.
Billy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:02PM
Man that thing moves slow.
bi0hazard @ Feb 27th 2008 6:18PM
or maybe it's moving so fast that you think its slow
Jherez @ Feb 27th 2008 7:34PM
Wait that's it? I just stacked the dishes away! It was supposed to wash them WTF
Backlin @ Feb 27th 2008 5:02PM
Looks like an old washing machine with arms and a dome on top. Pretty modern.
Erik @ Feb 27th 2008 5:03PM
What a wasteful robot, it should turn those veggies into biofuel.
bi0hazard @ Feb 27th 2008 6:23PM
But what if the tiny man inside who's moving it around isn't a vegetarian?
Neoprimal @ Feb 27th 2008 5:04PM
It's Rosie ver. 0.0.0.0.2325!
bigbird @ Feb 27th 2008 5:05PM
Slow isn't the word. Imagine the outcome of a chip pan fire! The charred remains of said robot still trying to read the fire blanket instructions.....
danny @ Feb 27th 2008 5:05PM
I already have a wife...
Raheem @ Feb 27th 2008 5:07PM
Do you have a lawyer?
danny @ Feb 27th 2008 5:09PM
I is confuzed.
phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:10PM
I R Soo Expensive
Raheem @ Feb 27th 2008 5:13PM
Divorce her marry robot.
Remember: Nilay is an attorney, but he's not YOUR attorney!
danny @ Feb 27th 2008 5:16PM
If the robot can understand "Make me a sandwich" then where do I sign.
phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:20PM
sudo make me a sandwich
SimonRichards @ Feb 27th 2008 9:39PM
make clean
phanbouy @ Feb 27th 2008 5:06PM
Retrobot is right at home in RetroKitchen. All it needs is corrugated flexible hose arms and a twirling can opener on its dome head.
BigBirdUK @ Feb 27th 2008 5:11PM
Good point about the kitchen though. Not a hint of brushed steel around!
Francis @ Feb 27th 2008 5:07PM
The makers of that video have been careful enough not to show what happens when the Readybot comes across a kitchen knife.
I still have nightmares.
bigbird @ Feb 27th 2008 5:09PM
Animatrix!!!!!!!!
Empress Penguin @ Feb 27th 2008 9:18PM
EX-TER-MI-NATE! DE-STROY!
Matthew S. Schwartz @ Feb 27th 2008 5:11PM
Remember folks, judging by his obvious infatuation with the CleanBot5000, Nilay is neither your lawyer NOR your maid. Nor his maid, apparently.
Jordan @ Feb 27th 2008 5:11PM
This makes me happy in my pan- erm. In my head. Yes. Happy in my head.
sheikhness @ Feb 27th 2008 5:14PM
pathetic....its 2008 fer chrisskates
Raheem @ Feb 27th 2008 5:15PM
There's clearly someone in that thing, pulling some levers... uh... clearly.
Jesse @ Feb 27th 2008 5:16PM
whatd it do with the garbage it swept onto the floor?
b.essiambre @ Feb 27th 2008 5:21PM
Finally! I've been waiting for more robots since I got a Roomba and realized how insanely useful they are. I also need a bathroom cleaning robot and a clothes folding robot. There is no reason in 2008 for clothes to come out of the dryer unfolded.
Matthew S. Schwartz @ Feb 27th 2008 5:30PM
Yeah the Roomba was nice until I had to spend 20 minutes cleaning all the gunk and hair out of the rollers, thus negating all the time I had saved by letting the robot vacuum my floors!
BigBirdUK @ Feb 27th 2008 5:21PM
And I'm sure you'll really enjoy that sandwitch. Then one day you get home to discover your wife is enjoying the spinny surface cleaner attachment in a manner neither intended or covered in the user warranty!
Raheem @ Feb 27th 2008 5:23PM
Now that's what I call blending.
spacegravity4me @ Feb 27th 2008 8:42PM
Hey man, for me and my wife, that just equals party!;) Giggity Giggity, all riight. I'm gonna go look at porn by myself... I'm alone forever......
SuperChuck @ Feb 27th 2008 5:27PM
Am I the only one that finds the choppy video a little staged?
disco_delite @ Feb 27th 2008 5:27PM
That really was quite lame.
-Unless it can levitate, it didn't actually come out of the cabinet. There was about a 4" drop from the cabinet bottom to the floor.
-All it did was move objects on the counter. It didn't stack dishes or even place them in the sink/dishwasher to consolidate space. It simply moved the mess from one location to another. It didn't clean anything.
-The squeegee simply swept the debris on the floor. Do you then need an iRobot Roomba or Scooba to clean the floor afterwards?
-What happens when there is liquid in a plate/bowl? It seemed to tilt some of the plates/bowls at a severe angle when they were picked up. (Liquid spills, gets squeegeed to the floor, left for iRobot Scooba to clean up?)