Robot cleaner ends home drudgery

Doing the housework could soon be a relaxing experience, thanks to the world's first robotic vacuum cleaner. Developed by the Japanese electronics giant Matsushita, the robot is slightly bigger than a football and has the intelligence to avoid falling downstairs or crashing into walls.

Fitted with 50 sonic and infra-red sensors, it can work for up to an hour on a single battery charge after using its sensors to measure the size of each room that needs to be cleaned.

'We have long been tackling the automation of domestic chores,' said Matsushita director Yoshitaka Hayashi. The firm, which owns Panasonic, has spent around £1 million developing the robotic cleaner. Hayashi said: 'Robots will some day guard against fires and burglary in homes while people are asleep.'

In a demonstration at Matsushita's Osaka headquarters last week, the machine inched a path around a mock-up living room, avoiding cabinets and furniture, and slowed down over dusty areas. Matsushita said robots would be used in various homes in a trial in May before a full retail launch is announced.

Consumers can already buy a range of 'personal robots' at a cost of around £2,000. Most perform basic functions, such as delivering food and drinks or fetching items. Robotics engineer Hans Moravec said: 'There was a lot of optimism in the beginning when robots first appeared on the scene. But some of us began to realise there was a major miscalculation in building robots - and that had to do with the belief that complicated programming was involved.

'The best robots today are those that are the simplest in what they do. These are the ones that have one task and do it well. Any time you try and build one that does a multitude of things, like a robot that can do everything at home, you inevitably fail because there are too many ways in which something can go wrong.'

Matsushita said its technology will eventually be able to cope with a wide range of general housekeeping chores. Other robot models, fitted with features such as cameras and mobile connections, could eventually work as security guards or as carers for children or the elderly.

Japan leads the world in robot use, installing nearly half of all the new robots in 2000.