The Past

The past of household robotics is not as far ago as we may think. Until the 20th Century, mankind did not even believe that any machinery could replace the work of any human. All laundry had to be hand washed and all of the dishes had to be done by hand. Popular magazines and TV shows of the 1950's and 1960's always showed a human like robot doing common household chores. This dream of a life of lax and luxury while your robot cleaned, took out the trash, even cooked dinner has failed to materialize. However, in today’s society baby steps have been taken towards actual household robotics.

When remembering the true meaning of household robotics, (a device that automatically performs complicated often repetitive tasks using mechanical components in any general public home)[9] the evolution of simple machinery that can make many tasks easier such as the microwave, the vacuum cleaner, and the dishwasher had early beginnings. Evolution in each of these fields has carved a pathway for household robotics. If one takes the example of the Roomba, it would have been extremely difficult to create a robotic broom. However, if in 1901 Hubert Cecil Booth had not created the first patented vacuum cleaner[10], then the Roomba would have been impossible to create.

Although the machines below are not true robots they were baby steps in helping people with common chores. Before these devices were invented cleaing your floors and doing your dishes was pure drudgery. We may still think of these tasks as drudge work but that is simply because we overlook them in our daily lives. At the time of their invention they were real time savers and amazing to the people of the day.

The Vacuum Cleaner

After the American Industrial Revolution, there seemed to be a want for cleanliness. Advertising after that era showed the filthiness of any household and advertising the newest cleaning products. Thus, the first electric “suction sweeper” was introduced in 1907. [10]

The Dishwasher
The first dishwasher was invented in America in 1850, Joel Houghton patented a wooden machine with a hand-turned wheel that splashed water on dishes. Though it did not work, it was the primitive beginnings of our contemporary dishwasher. Later on in 1886, Josephine Cochrane said that she would create a much better dishwasher, and she did. Sadly, only hotels and restaurants liked her idea and began using it. Finally, in the 1950’s dishwashers began to become more economical and efficient. [11]

In Comes The Computer

Though this is not held as a “robot” in the regular vocabulary, it is however a device that contains mechanical components in order to carry out a sometime repetitive task and most robots depend upon a computer. We rely on computers every day, if it weren’t for them household robotics would have never been possible. The beginnings of the computer were in punch card processing and vacuum tubes. This technology, along with the large variety of machines that created, sorted, collated, printed, and reproduced punched cards, allowed organizations to efficiently manage thousands, or even millions, of records. Following Herman Hollerith's punched card equipment designed to process the 1890 US Census, the variety of punched card processing machines grew rapidly.[15] By the mid-twentieth century, American, British and German machines could multiply, divide and even calculate square roots. Now that seems like a simple task, but back in the late 1800’s it was quite an accomplishment.

The Marriage of The Computer and The Appliance

Household robotics never truly evolved until the present times, however, their primitive beginings are in our very own past. Household robotics did not advance any until the natural marriage of the computer with normal household appliances. Now we have devices that can mow our yards, vacuum our houses and a variety of other tasks. You can read more about the present capabilities of household robotics here.