Robot Garbage Man Only Comes When Called

t's WALL•E!

You know how it is, you're sound asleep until the crash, crunch, bang of the bin truck wakes you up and you realize you've forgotten to put the garbage out. Again.

Most of us, at one time or another, have done the mad down down the stairs in our barely-theres to personally present the garbage man with our rubbish. Now, imagine how soundly you could sleep if there existed a garbage man that only came to collect your rubbish when you called him.

Dustcart is an intelligent robot about the size of a person. He is mounted on a Segway base and can 'see' both moving and stationary objects with integrate cameras and sensors. An E.U. funded project, Dustcart collects your garbage only when you summon it.

Residents use their phones to make contact with the robot and using a triangulation system, he navigates his way to their homes by interacting with wireless networks. The system also plans out the best route between pick-ups.

Paolo Dario, coordinator of the DustBot project, told the Daily Mail that though most robotics researchers want to make a fully automated and intelligent system, Dustcart was built using a different approach.

"Here, we have a smart robot in a smart environment; the robot 'talks' to its surroundings and the surroundings communicate back. This means the robot has access to a lot more information and computing power," Dario explained.

Fix Your iPhone 4 Reception Woes for a Dollar

Only a fool would pay $30 for something he could make himself for a fraction of the cost.

A lot of people think Apple should be giving iPhone 4 users free bumpers to fix the new device's antenna problem and it's easy to see why; the bumpers cost $30 from the Apple store. Why should loyal customers have to pay an extra $30 to fix something they aren't responsible for? Unfortunately, Apple has said that they will not be appeasing customers with free bumpers.

If you've resigned yourself to the fact that you'll need one of these bumpers to make calls or comfortably hold your phone without killing reception, then we encourage you not to spend $30 on one from Apple. Why would you when you can spend a $1 making your own?

If you're familiar with the Livestrong wristbands sold by the Lance Armstrong foundation, you probably know that there are tons of other versions, you can get them pretty much anywhere and they cost next to nothing. Well, iPhone Guru (via Wired) reports that these little gel bracelets actually make pretty decent bumpers.