Robots have been performing useful chores in industry for many decades. More recently, home robots for cleaning, for children, and for entertainment have become more affordable to the average consumer. Small cleaning robots for inside the home have been around for over a decade and are more affordable now than ever before. These small robots usually perform cleaning and vacuuming for rugs and their travel is usually limited to a relatively small area in rooms, and they do not interact with their surroundings. Many military and some scientific robots exist that are semi- or fully autonomous and can learn or navigate through their environment, whether outdoors, indoors, in the air, in space or underwater. These robots are very costly and exceedingly rare. The public cannot afford to purchase them, even more so for the average homeowner. In, addition, military robots employ costly and complex user interfaces.
There is a need in our society to keep personal motor vehicles clean. Cleaning personal home vehicles requires time, effort, inconvenience, and considerable expense when using commercially available sources. Currently, a vehicle can be washed by hand or in a local car wash. Today, the only commercial cleaning systems are large mechanical types installed either outside or within large structures, or as part of freestanding or do-it-yourself car washes. Ownership of these machines is beyond the reach of the average homeowner. Utilizing commercially available car washes is inconvenient because of the time, vehicle wear, and fuel used driving to and from the washing facility. In addition, people risk exposure to hazards, such as missing personal belongings, accidents occurring on the way to the facility, and unforeseen damage to the vehicle. Other than hand-washing one's own vehicle, routinely keeping a personal home vehicle clean has been impractical for the average motorist or homeowner. Therefor a there is an unfulfilled need within the realm of cleaning personal vehicles. Due to the availability of robotics, affordable microprocessors, and computer technology, it is now feasible to design and build a robotic vehicle washing system that is simple, compact and economical enough for private residential use. There is a need for an outdoor personal vehicle-cleaning robot that makes time-consuming and tedious car washing less of an issue.
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USPTO Backgrounds