Overmatter: Rise of the rollbots

Anyone who’s visited a high-volume printing superplant will be familiar with the sort of robot that transports huge reels of paper smoothly to the presses, as needed. Clever stuff indeed and a great use of robotic technology.

But wait. The recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas brought news of another paper-carrying robot that has the potential to have a truly transformative impact on life as we know it.

Procter & Gamble’s LifeLab feature at the show included a number of ‘cheeky’ toilet-related concepts from its toilet paper brand Charmin, including a robot. No more misery of being stuck in the loo just as the roll runs out! This bear-shaped cutie (we see what they did there) will trundle your way via the power of Bluetooth technology, and the same sort of tech used in robotic vacuum cleaners, bearing (ahem) a spare roll.

Coined the ‘RollBot’, or ‘Butt-ler’, quite how the bot opens the toilet/bathroom door in order to access the needful botty isn’t clear, but these are mere details in what we’re sure everyone agrees is surely going to be a must-have item in every home and workplace. 

“Alexa, call the RollBot.”