Going out is no excuse for not doing the housework, says South Korean company Yujin Robot. It is launching a vacuum cleaning robot that you steer around your home using the keypad and video screen of a 3G cellphone. In 鈥渟entinel mode鈥�, the robot doubles as a burglar alarm: sensors detect when something moves in your house 鈥� and it sends a text to warn you of the intrusion. A speaker on the robot then lets you shout at the burglar through the phone.
Technological trickle-down is benefiting London鈥檚 firefighters. Robots that defuse roadside bombs in Iraq have been equipped with thermal imaging cameras, allowing potentially lethal gas cylinders at blaze sites to be inspected remotely before firefighters move in. After a fire acetylene cylinders can take 24 hours to cool to safe temperatures.
