I remember when I was a kid, my dad had to walk around the yard every weekend scooping up all the dog poo before he could mow the lawn.
Sometimes I had to do it too, and you could always tell when the dog had gotten hold of some crayons…
Well now it seems like there’s a robot for every unpleasant task–vacuuming, mopping, even cutting the grass–so of course it was only a matter of time before someone invented a robot that scoops the poop for you.
You read that right.
The scrappy start-up Beetl Robotics, led by CEO Xiong Chang, has developed a prototype for a machine that will rove through your yard picking up all the little presents that your four legged friend left behind.
Their Facebook page, which explains that the robot will deposit the doo into a compost bin, shows the development of their design over time, from this early concept…
…to a finished product that debuted at the 2017 CES (consumer electronics) trade show, where Beetl placed 3rd for Best Tech:
The company follows the Agile method of product development, which allowed them to deviate from their original design to make the concept even better.
According to their website:
We iterated on our robotic poop-scooper idea to add lawn mowing functionality.
We opted for a sickle-bar grass shear mechanism to get the added benefit of releasing the clamshell jaws from long grass.
All navigation was processed via computer vision and advanced sensor fusion.
Consumers are very excited about this technology, but unfortunately it can take a long time to get from concept to market, so the Beetl isn’t available for sale yet.
Still, I love a good robot, so sign me up when it is. What do you think about this idea? Do you need one for outside, and another for inside, to pick up your kids’ toys before you run your Roomba? Tell us in the comments!
