Posts Tagged: "roomba"

Robot War at ITC Leads to Preliminary Win for iRobot

Roomba maker IRobot Corp. came closer to its goal of knocking down cheaper rival SharkNinja after winning a decision in its patent-infringement case at the International Trade Commission (ITC/Commission), though it wasn’t a clear victory. ITC Judge MaryJoan McNamara said SharkNinja infringed two of four asserted iRobot patents, according to a notice posted last week on the agency’s electronic docket. The judge’s full findings won’t be public for a couple of weeks, to enable both sides to redact confidential business information.

Sue Decker

October 10, 2022

Autonomous Vehicles to Include Self-Driving Shopping Carts?

According to the patent application filed by Walmart, the system will utilize a series of docking stations, sensors, motors and cameras to offer consumers the ability to “hail” a shopping cart using an app on their smartphones, much like they would a taxi or Uber and that upon completion of use, the system will somehow be able to recognize abandoned carts within the store or in the parking lot and will be able to manually return itself to a docking station for use by another consumer.

Renee C. Quinn

September 15, 2016

Robotics: The Business Depends on More than Patents

In the late 1970s patents for devices which would accommodate the self-care and mobility needs of the aging and handicapped began to be filed. But it wasn’t until 1990 that the filings increased, numbering about 20 a year. By 2005, they totaled about 50 annually. The current trend in patent applications is now focused on humanoids, that is robots resembling and making movements like human beings. That is exactly the kind of story which attracts considerable media attention, creating the illusion that this robotics niche is taking off.

Jane Genova

January 5, 2013