Premium vacuum company Dyson has patented designs for robots that look like they could climb and clean stairs, and open drawers, new filings show. It’s not clear whether the designs are for forthcoming products or ideas that are on hold, but Bloomberg reports that Dyson’s robotic unit has been working on a robot to interact with other home appliances. Whether it’s the robot hand or the stair-climbing robot, or another product entirely also isn’t clear at this point.
The patents published in the UK on September 1st show the two designs; a “robotic device with tri-star wheels and actuated arm” that would be able to climb steps and clean them (a stair-climbing vacuum sounds like an excellent idea), and a “robot hand” which is shown in drawings with the patent application holding a mug (and which is making me envision it bringing me a cup of coffee at this early hour).
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The usual caveats about patents apply, of course; companies file for many patents that may never result in a consumer product, and Bloomberg notes that Dyson has filed for patents for everything from a “dental treatment device” (aka a toothbrush) to an air purifier/headphone device
Dyson didn’t immediately reply to a request for comment on Sunday. But a spokesperson told Bloomberg “we file a lot of patents” and that the company doesn’t comment on technologies it “may or may not launch in the future.”
