AND FINALLY . . .
Could robotic mowers hinder the space race?
Astronomers at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in the US are worried that radio controlled robotic lawnmowers could interfere with their sensitive radio telescopes.Spokesman for the observatory, Harvey Liszt, told news source Bloomberg that the radio waves will be seen by their instruments. "It's a distortion," he said. One of the companies currently manufacturing robotic lawnmowers, iRobot, says the claims of interference are overblown. The company has also pledged to take steps to ensure its robomowers won't cause interference with space exploration. The proposed radio frequency for the lawnmowers, which don't rely on wires for guidance as is the case with current robotic lawnmowers, is the same frequency that scientists use to track methanol. Discovering the presence of methanol usually points to regions of star formation. To counteract worries scientists have about interference, iRobot has offered to put a notice in the manuals and on the robots that reads "Consumer use only; use must be limited to residential areas."
COMING UP IN NEXT ISSUE OF SERVICE DEALER (MAY/JUNE): The March of the Robots
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