Imagine an automated glass cleaner–like a roomba for your home floors but instead of floors it cleaned the aquarium glass, automatically. We’ve all thought of it, and now AquaGenesis has made a reality with their RoboSnail. Well sort of, they’ve given us a brief video clip and a product image. Here’s what they have to [...]
Imagine an automated glass cleaner–like a roomba for your home floors but instead of floors it cleaned the aquarium glass, automatically. We’ve all thought of it, and now AquaGenesis has made a reality with their RoboSnail. Well sort of, they’ve given us a brief video clip and a product image. Here’s what they have to say about their automated aquarium cleaner:
“The RoboSnail is an automated glass/acrylic cleaner that prevents algae build up on the aquariums surface. This is accomplished by the RoboSnail’s unique ability to clean the aquarium’s surface once a day without user intervention.”
This would be a huge boon for aquarists (and real snails). Maintenance accounts, businesses, even LFS would be ideal users of the RoboSnail, but, call us skeptical, there is just so much that could potentially wrong. Watch this video and see what you think.
When first hearing about the RoboSnail and seeing the video, I admit that my initial reaction was marketing ploy. The above clip could even be a creative stop motion video of a decorated mag float–then after some research we realized that AquaGenesis is just not in the video making business. We looked into the purported president and CEO of AquaGenesis, Milan Rafailovich and we’re becoming increasingly curious.
A quick search pulls up his LinkedIn profile which states his position at AquaGenesis. With some further browsing and we see some information from his Alma Mater, San Diego State. SDSU writes,”Milan Rafailovich… has received a patent and opened his own company in San Diego, Oceanetics, Inc.”. AquaGenesis and the Roomba of the Reef, RoboSnail does appear to be legitimate.
With some addition browsing and we were able to pull up the international patent application. Milan has applied for an International patent for the RoboSnail and it was received by the International Bureau just 3 days ago [PDF].
So it does appear to be a serious product, and one that AquaGenesis and Oceanetics, Inc. have pursued diligently. Now we’re left wondering, how does it handle corners? What about sand scratches? What about silicone seams?
We reached out to AquaGenesis, but have not heard back from them as of publishing this. If you’re still curious, check out the claims of the patent below.
What is claimed is:
1. An aquarium cleaning system, comprising: an inner member adapted to be positioned adjacent an interior surface of a sidewall of the aquarium; an outer member adapted to be positioned adjacent an exterior surface of the sidewall such that the sidewall is interposed between the inner and outer members; an attachment mechanism that retains the inner member and the outer member in a fixed position relative to one another; a cleaning member mounted on the inner member, wherein the cleaning member is adapted to clean the interior surface of the sidewall; and a control system adapted to cause the inner and outer member to collectively move around the side wall of the aquarium such that the cleaning member cleans the interior surface of the side wall during such movement.
2. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the outer member includes at least one wheel that enables the outer member to move along the sidewall.
3. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the control system includes a drive motor coupled to at least one wheel, wherein the drive motor is energized to cause the wheel to rotate and move the inner and outer members along the side wall.
4. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the control system includes means for programming an operating schedule for the cleaning system, wherein the operating schedule specifies at least one date and time in which the cleaning system should clean the aquarium.
5. A system as in claim 1 , further comprising at least one navigational member that assists the cleaning system in navigating along the side wall.
6. A system as in claim 5, wherein the navigational member includes an upper limit switch mounted on an upper edge of the outer member, wherein the upper limit switch is configured to detect when the cleaning system is positioned at or near an upper edge of a side wall of the aquarium.
7. A system as in claim 5, wherein the navigational member includes an lower limit switch mounted on an lower edge of the outer member, wherein the lower limit switch is configured to detect when the cleaning system is positioned at or near a lower edge of a side wall of the aquarium.
8. A system as in claim 5, wherein the navigational member includes an corner switch mounted on a side edge of the outer member, wherein the corner switch is configured to detect when the cleaning system is positioned at or near a corner of a side wall of the aquarium.
9. A system as in claim 5, wherein the navigational member is located on the inner member and wherein the navigational member is adapted to detect the presence of an obstruction in a movement path of the cleaning system.
10. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the cleaning member is removably attached to the inner member.
11. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the cleaning member comprises a pad.
12. A system as in claim 1, wherein the cleaning member comprises a blade.
13. A system as in claim 1, wherein multiple cleaning members are mounted on the inner member.
14. A system as in claim 1 , wherein the attachment mechanism uses a magnetic force to retain the inner member and the outer member in a fixed position relative to one another.
15. A method of cleaning an aquarium, comprising: mounting an inner member and an outer member of a cleaning system on an aquarium side wall such that the aquarium side wall is interposed between the inner member and outer member; and energizing the cleaning system to cause the inner and outer members to collectively move around the side wall of the aquarium such that the inner member cleans the interior surface of the side wall during such movement.
16. A method as in claim 14, further comprising causing the inner and outer members to move in a zig-zag manner along the side wall.
17. A method as in claim 14, wherein the inner member includes a cleaning member that contacts the side wall and cleans the side wall.
18. A method as in claim 14, wherein the outer member includes at least one wheel that facilitates movement along the sidewall.
6 Comments
Interesting setup. I was wondering how they would get it to jump corners… but I guess it doesn't do that just yet. I could see 1 of these running around my tank, but not 3. I also wonder how small they can get it, and it still be functional.
I was pretty excited to see this until I read more at their site. It seems like it needs to hit a corner to do the math properly. I think that means it won't work on my tank. Pretty clever idea though, so long as it doesn't destroy acrylic tanks.
This would only be a viable option for glass aquariums.
Even that I see it having very limited usability or value.
Maybe I just don't get it?
I guess it's a good idea if you cant spend 30 seconds to swipe a magnet across your tank. I'll take three, one for every side of my tank:)
I wonder how close it would come to the substrate line. It would be neat if there was a sensor that could stop the movement if sand or a sediment was detected.
I wonder how close it would come to the substrate line. It would be neat if there was a sensor that could stop the movement if sand or a sediment was detected.