A Roomba that mows your lawn just cleared a legal hurdle that means they could soon be out on the prowl for grass.
iRobot, the company that makes the little Roomba robotic vacuum cleaners that wander about collecting dirt from the floor, received regulatory approval from the FCC to sell a robotic device that mows lawns.
The automated lawnmower design uses stakes that act as signal beacons, that talk to the device so that it knows where it is, where it's going, and where it shouldn't go. But the issue is that the frequencies the stakes and lawnmower communicate on are shared, and it's possible they could interfere with other transmissions.
Ultimately, the FFC granted iRobot a waiver, so it's possible we'll see an automated lawnmower from them sooner rather than later. Anything that prevents me from having to go outside in the ridiculous summer heat sounds good.
