The LawnBott from Kyodo America is a pretty nifty lawn mower robot; it has the unique feature of taking orders from your cell phone via Bluetooth.
(LawnBott demonstration video)
This device is rather pricey at $3,249; you can add even more to the price (just like you can with a high-end laptop) by adding more lithium-ion batteries. You can even add a Mad Max touch by accessorizing it with spiked wheels - cheap at $79.
This device takes me all the way back to 1944; in his prescient novella City, Clifford Simak describes the joys of the robotic lawn mower. Follow the link below to see a much-needed feature for robot lawn mowers.
Gramp Stevens sat in a lawn chair, watching the mower at work, feeling the warm, soft sunshine seep into his bones. The mower reached the edge of the lawn, clucked to itself like a contented hen, made a neat turn and trundled down another swath. The bag holding the clippings bulged.
(Read more about the robot lawn mower)
Read more at NY Times; thanks to Moira for the tip on the robot mower.
Scroll down for more stories in the same category. (Story submitted 5/15/2008)
RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.' - Roger Zelazny, 1966.
Giant Robotic Hands At Gundam Next Future Science
'Waldo put his arms into the primary pair before him; all three pairs, including the secondary pair mounted before the machine, came to life.' - Robert Heinlein, 1942.
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RoboShiko! Sumo Exercises Still Good For Robots
'... the expressionless face before me was therefore that of the golem-wrestler, Rolem, a creature that could be set for five times the strength of a human being.'