![\"Vorwerk](\"wp-content\/pic\/vorwerkvac.jpg\")
<\/center><\/p>\nI guess if a robot is going to vacuum a carpet, it should be able to talk to the carpet. And that’s basically what this puppy can do – talk to the carpet via embedded RFID chips (just wait until they use inks<\/a> and dyes to weave it in). From the Discovery Channel news website<\/a>: <\/p>\n Now the manufacturing company Vorwerk in Hamlin, Germany, has partnered with Infineon in Munich to develop an electronic carpet that wirelessly navigates a self-propelled robot over every square inch of a floor, and can even direct the machine to revisit sections it unintentionally missed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n I assume the next rev will have the carpet complaining about dirty spots and directing the robot to specific locations to do a more thorough job.<\/p>\n My favorite part of this news item though is when Burcu Akinci, the “expert” that apparently was in the office to answer the phone that day, makes this insightful statement: “If the whole room gets flooded<\/em>, then I think the robot wouldn’t be able to navigate easily.” Classic.<\/p>\n (As an aside, the generic topic of object-to-object communication is especially interesting in that this capability is very much a “virtual space” feature. Barriers just keep dropping between the real and the virtual.)<\/p>\n (above image Copyright \u00a9 Vorwerk)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I guess if a robot is going to vacuum a carpet, it should be able to talk to the carpet. And that’s basically what this puppy can do – talk to the carpet via embedded RFID chips (just wait until … Continue reading