The Eureka Company, Bloomington, IL, unveiled its Robot Vac in January at the International Housewares Show in Chicago. Guided by a sonar system, the robotic vacuum cleaner navigates a room's irregular landscape, working around furniture legs, over electrical cords and into corner areas that traditional vacuums often miss. Once it finds an exterior wall, it hugs the perimeter of the room, completes a 360 degree circuit, and then crosses and re-crosses the room in a random pattern. A powerful microprocessor and special software ensure that the robot goes where it should. When in a corner, the unit actively looks for a way to get out. The round design allows it to turn on its own axis and easily extricate itself from dead ends. When it "sees" an object in its path, the robot stops, turns and slowly goes around the item. A shock-absorbing bumper softens any contact the robot makes with items remaining on the floor. The 15-in. diameter prototype has no cords and no remote control, and it runs for about an hour before needing to recharge in its storage stand. While no production date is scheduled, the Robot Vac introduction will help company officials gauge consumer interest in the product. The company does not comment whether Eureka's Robot Vac will clean up after Sony's Robot Dog prototype. Circle 400.

More than 700 C-141 transports and KC-135 tankers that are 25 to 30 years old continue to operate in the U.S. military aircraft fleet. Many are experiencing fatigue and corrosion problems that lead to low availability rates, and reduced procurement budgets will not permit one-to-one replacements as these aircraft are retired, necessitating a multi-mission aircraft. One of the proposals from engineers at Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems in Marietta, GA, is this Box Wing configuration. Essentially a military biplane for the next century, the design packs a wing span comparable with that of a C-5, but in a smaller area. It would also provide the operational advantage of multi-point/multi-boom refueling, reducing the required number of tanker aircraft in the inventory from the current single-boom designs. A box wing design would be highly maneuverable while carrying twice the payload of a C-130, desirable for small airfields. The wings could be constructed without taper from root to tip which, coupled with a mostly constant fuselage section, would result in lower manufacturing cost by reducing tooling for individual body and wing ribs. The tanker would retain a full cargo capability with roll-on/roll-off loading of vehicles, equipment and ISO containers. Eighteen test flights of a 6.5-ft. wingspan model have been successfully completed. Circle 401.