Futuristic Stain Remover

[Bullwinkle]

Well, "Remover" isn't really the right word.  More like "Stain Picker-Upper" I guess.  Can someone explain how this works? Is it the surface? Is it some uber-teflon on the blade? Is it special effects?

[Caine]

Powered by the ghost of Billy Mays?

[Razgon]

it's a kind of magic

[Purge]

it's a kind of magic

Quite.

I want one. Do they have one that works on dog-piss on carpets?

[Blackjack]

Anyone can clean ketchup and mustard off a smooth hard floor. Try cleaning it off shag or deep pile carpeting.  

I'm more experienced with cat stains of all kinds (I miss Molly the cat, just not cleaning up after her). Most enzyme cleaners did the trick for me (Petzyme and the like), but you'd have to use enough to thoroughly soak the area all the way to the padding underneath. Cleaning the surface stain doesn't always get what soaks through beneath the carpet surface.

Due to HOA noise regulations, I can't install hardwood floors in my 3rd story condo. I have no doubt that would've reduced my pet cleaning labor, even if might've resulted in some warped wood.  

[CeeKay]

it's a kind of magic

Quite.

I prefer this kind of magic.

[Scraper]

I bet there is a very thin clear plastic sheet under the stains. The device picks the plastic up instead of the actual stains. Then when they show it being mixed or scraped they are doing it on top of the plastic.

[Bullwinkle]

I bet there is a very thin clear plastic sheet under the stains. The device picks the plastic up instead of the actual stains. Then when they show it being mixed or scraped they are doing it on top of the plastic.

And you would know, Scraper.

I did notice he seems to be very careful about placing and mixing the stains.

[Scraper]

I bet there is a very thin clear plastic sheet under the stains. The device picks the plastic up instead of the actual stains. Then when they show it being mixed or scraped they are doing it on top of the plastic.

And you would know, Scraper.

I did notice he seems to be very careful about placing and mixing the stains.

Lol, finally a topic I'm qualified to comment on. 

[Alefroth]

Anyone can clean ketchup and mustard off a smooth hard floor. Try cleaning it off shag or deep pile carpeting.  

Yes, but can you put it back down exactly how it was?

Ale

[Purge]

Anyone can clean ketchup and mustard off a smooth hard floor. Try cleaning it off shag or deep pile carpeting. 

Yes, but can you put it back down exactly how it was?

Ale

Why would you want to?

[ibdoomed]

You can see the video 'hiccup' and the lighting changes between mixing and picking up/putting back. I'd say it's some sort of hardening goo that they mix up, let dry, put back, yadda yadda. It's definitely a scam.

[Alefroth]

Anyone can clean ketchup and mustard off a smooth hard floor. Try cleaning it off shag or deep pile carpeting. 

Yes, but can you put it back down exactly how it was?

Ale

Why would you want to?

I wouldn't, but I didn't think it would be taken seriously.

Ale

[Alefroth]

It looks like there is actually some kind of belt on the spatula part, and the goo is actually being rolled onto and off of that.

Ale

[TiLT]

You can see the video 'hiccup' and the lighting changes between mixing and picking up/putting back. I'd say it's some sort of hardening goo that they mix up, let dry, put back, yadda yadda. It's definitely a scam.

Then explain how the video shows the goo being picked up, put down, smeared out a bit more, shoved with a different tool (that just smears it further across the surface), then picked up again?

I'd say the "scam" part of this is more related to the product probably only working well on a very limited subset of surfaces.

[Destructor]

I remembered reading about this somewhere - it's supposed to be used for like designing the toppings of cakes by themselves before placing it onto the cake.

But yes, a very strange concept, especially for what I mentioned above.

[Sparhawk]

It's a magic trick. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NPaVC5ioaI&feature=related

probably inspired by this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ0PqzX8Ey0&feature=related

more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxIDApKRcig&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keX1-65rrLE&feature=related

[EngineNo9]

I wouldn't call that a magic trick.  I kind of thought it was obvious that it had a belt around the platform, the surprising thing was just how well it worked to pick up everything.

[Harkonis]

yeah, it's not a magic trick, just a nifty device.

[Bullwinkle]

My brother-in-law works as an engineer for a medical robotics company, and he uses a teflon-like object that's similar (but not as impressive, I guess).

He also found more info at this site:

So what is it?

It's a factory robot put out by Japanese company Furukawa and called SWITR, which actually stands for Special World Idea Technology Revolution (Japanese L/R ambivalence accounts for the discrepancy). It was apparently designed to process dough and perform those delicate tasks that only human hands could do. Information is light, though there's footage of the production-line unit here and another video below of the single-portion unit, which dates back to 2007.

There's another video at the site, too.