Hasta La Gadget!

Robot eyes. That’s a terrifying sentence. But robotics vision is an immense area of research interest, and a key technological field in terms of building the future of a wide variety of devices. That’s why it’s very interesting that Dyson is putting a sizeable investment into robotics vision via a joint robotics lab being launched in collaboration with Imperial College London.

The investment is worth £5 million (or around $8 million U.S.) and covers a five-year period. The lab will be working on robotics vision systems that are designed to help the next-gen of robots not only see things the way that humans do, but also process that visual information in a manner that better approximates human understanding.

For those unfamiliar with the field, it covers a broad range of potential uses: A friend with a graduate degree in robotics vision engineering helps design systems for production lines that inspect the products being built for quality assurance purposes. Typically, these offer up margins of error that are tiny compared to the standards established by human inspectors.

Dyson is no stranger to conducting robotics research – the company has been exploring that area of interest for the past 15 years, according to the company. With Imperial College London specifically, it’s been working on developing systems that can view, interpret and “logically navigate” their surroundings. This applies to robotic vacuums in terms of Dyson’s business interest (the company mentions this product category specifically, so watch out Roomba) but it’s not their only goal in terms of applied robotics.

What this signals for Dyson is a graduation of sorts, as the company moves from thinking about robotics as an area of sustained but relatively light interest, into something it would like to ramp up on the production side. Hopefully at the end of these next five years, we’ll all be living with an army of Dyson home cleaning automatons, but at the very least we should see some advancements in terms of the ocular powers of our robotic friends.

People who haven’t used a Dyson often believe their reputation to be hype. How, after all, could one device designed for sucking up dirt so far exceed any other machine designed for the same task? There’s no operating system, no laundry list of features, no app market to consider, and so on. But while vacuums are simple in function, Dyson’s sophistication behind the scenes makes its machines somewhat magical, and the new DC59 (or DC62 in Canada, which explains the badging in the photos) Animal Digital Slim vacuum may just be the most magical of all.

Basics

• 26-minute battery
• 6-minute boost mode
• Comes with 4 vacuum heads
• 4.6 lbs
• 0.12 gallon bin capacity
• MSRP: $499.99
• Product info page

Pros

• Thrice the sucking power of any other handheld vacuum
• 6 more minutes running time than its predecessor
• 50% more power than DC44 in boost mode

Cons

• Boost mode taxes battery quick
• Trigger-based operation will annoy some

Design

Regardless of their utility as cleaning devices, Dyson’s line of vacuums are icons of good design. For James Dyson, the company’s founder and CEO, the word “design” encapsulates not only looks, but also engineering and technical aspects of the product. It’s a holistic approach to product creation, and one that resonates with the Apple vision for how devices should be built.

Dyson is often likened to Apple, and the comparison shows true when looking at the DC59′s ID. The vacuum carries on the tradition of Dyson’s handheld line, but adds a sharper angle to the handle, shifts the filter location and modifies the ‘crown’ of cyclones that feed through to the new Dyson digital motor V6. The result is a cleaner look, but also one that emphasizes the increased power in this new generation of vacuum engine.

The purple tube design is a continuation of the trend begun with the DC44, which features a blue shaft, and could be seen as an odd choice for the more staid vacuum shoppers in the crowd, but the overall design is one of the most harmonious in Dyson’s line, and the DC59 is easily the best-looking cordless vacuum available overall in my book.

Performance

Having previously owned a Dyson DC35 as my main vacuum, I’m not unaccustomed to Dyson cordless models. That was a stalwart machine, and served my two-bedroom condo well, but it had a 15-minute max operation time and was actually heavier than the DC59, plus it lacked the pet-friendly main floor vacuum head and upholstery attachment.

The DC59 has a lot more power, and you can tell instantly that it’s a more effective upright floor vacuum replacement than any of its predecessors. The problem with the Dyson cordless line has always been that it has likely just enough power to get you through a standard cleaning of your space-constrained place before giving out, but not enough to either be really thorough or complete additional tasks like dusting (using the included dusting head).

26 minutes is a big step up, and provides nearly double the life of that generation. It’s plenty to cover my new place, which has two floors, including carpet, hardwood and tile, and there’s still a bit of juice left over for dusting duties. The weight loss over previous models really helps, too, in terms of making sure your arm doesn’t feel fatigued even if you’re reaching up to do the drapes or get that cobweb out of the corner.

Finally, it seems like the trigger and handle have been redesigned to make operation easier, too. The trigger seems more sensitive, meaning it’s harder to accidentally turn off the vacuum mid-use, and the angled handle design is easier on the wrist and hand.

In use, Dyson’s DC59 lasted about as long as advertised, give or take a few minutes, but it felt luxuriously long compared to previous models. It handled everything I could throw at it, including cleaning out my hard-to-clean burr grinder with the included crevice tool. Charging time is about three and a half hours, which isn’t ideal if you’re just about finished cleaning and want to get it done, but at least it’s not something you have to leave overnight.

Bottom Line

If you vacuum, you will enjoy the DC59. Notice I didn’t say if you enjoy vacuuming, you’ll enjoy the DC59: It’s actually so good at what it does that it makes an otherwise arduous task enjoyable, and that’s the real key to Dyson’s advantage over its competitors. The DC59 improves on its cordless line in every way that counts, offering more power, longer run time, and better ergonomics. It’s expensive, but if you’ve got the cash, at no time will you feel like you overpaid when it comes to this vacuum.

Dyson has revealed its latest vacuum, the Cinetic DC54, using a new system of tiny clustered cyclones to do away not only with the bag but the filter, too. Squeezing … Continue reading

There’s something strangely throttling about a Dyson device. The curves feel futuristic, and the transparent plastic shows you what’s under the hood. And the latest generation runs faster than a Formula 1 race car. You almost have to pinch yourself to remember that it’s just a vacuum cleaner.

Read more…

Exoskeletons are definitely the way to go to boost and assist people’s natural strength. There have been numerous exoskeleton prototypes created, but most of them cost an arm and a leg to make. That’s not the case of the Titan Arm, winner of the 2013 James Dyson Award.

The Titan Arm was designed by four mechanical engineering students at the University of Pennsylvania, and it’s a low-cost upper body exoskeleton that was developed for use to lift heavy objects and health care. The exoskeleton increases the user’s arm strength by up to 40 pounds to reduce fatigue, and braces the back.

Those with injuries can also use the exoskeleton to help rebuild muscles and relearn fine motor control. The working prototype was created for less than $2,000(USD), using 3D printing and CNC machining technologies.

[via designboom]