iRobot has a moderate hit on its hands with Scooba, its floor mopping robot for homes. Not surprisingly, the company wants to extend the Scooba idea to other settings.
Its latest patent application is for a robotic floor cleaner "adapted to allow sterile cleaning of sensitive environments, such as a hospital room." The company believes the device could also be extended for use in other settings such as laboratories.
The robot called Floor Genie would have cleaning devices such as vacuum heads, brushes, cleaning fluid sprays, and sanitizing devices such as a UV germicidal light, says the patent.
It is an interesting extension. Hospitals with their stringent sanitary needs seem a natural market for the automated cleaning products.
But even if successful, the Floor Genie will likely be just a small step forward for iRobot. The product is still quite niche.
iRobot hasn't said anything about the Floor Genie yet. The patent was filed in July 2006 though it was published just earlier this month.