1978 – “Chiritori” Remote Control Vacuum Cleaner by Nintendo – Gunpei Yokoi (Japanese)

US Patent Information: Publication number US4306329 A Publication date Dec 22, 1981 Filing date Oct 5, 1979  Inventors Gunpei Yokoi Original Assignee Nintendo Co., Ltd. Self-propelled cleaning device with wireless remote-control Abstract A self-propelled cleaning device with wireless remote control includes a body, a driving device on the body for moving the same rotatably about …

1993 – “HomeR” Vacuuming Robot – Frank Jenkins (American)

Extract from article by Tom Carroll, Servo Magazine, Nov 2006. The above picture shows a robot vacuum cleaner that was a work of art, though a bit tall to clean under most furniture. Frank Jenkins of the Robotics Society of California demonstrated his home vac for our group 15 years ago. At 23 inches high …

1991 – “Televac” Automatic Vacuum Cleaner – Andre and Bernard Jonas (French)

Robo-Vac: Televac, a robot vacuum cleaner that runs on a timer, rotates in six-degree increments as its flat-lying hose extends 18 feet under furniture. Obstacles are detected by a sensor on the nozzle. Televac is shown below with and without its cover. US Patent information: Automatic vacuum cleaner Publication number US5095577 A  Publication date Mar …