A NEW generation of so-called talking vacuum cleaners and washing machines could soon save people the hassle of phoning call centres when they break down.
British inventor James Dyson – who devised the pioneering bagless “dual cyclone” vacuum cleaner – has claimed new domestic appliances developed by his engineers need so much computer power to make them work that there is enough spare “intelligence” left over to run a new diagnostic aid if they break down.
Instead of having to explain who they are, where they bought the machine and what’s wrong, owners of broken cleaners will be able to hold their telephone receiver up to the machine.
A speaker in it will then “warble” – like a computer modem – and transmit most of the information the maker needs to know. They can then advise the owner what to do next.
Dyson told the New Scientist Reports television programme: “When something’s broken the call centre always wants to know the serial number and model number – and you’ve never got it to hand so you have to ring back later.
“But with this new technology, you will simply hold down the vacuum’s “on” button and put the telephone receiver next to a speaker, and in our call centre we’ll get the entire history of the machine’s motor, what model it is, when it was built and what temperature conditions it has been used in.”
Engineers at Dyson’s plant in Malmesbury, Wiltshire developed the diagnostic aid.
Dyson’s engineers have built a prototype for a new generation of vacuum cleaners – called the X020 – following six years of exhaustive research. The X020 is able to run at an ultra-fast 100,000 revolutions per minute – up to four times faster than the AC motors commonly used in today’s vacuum cleaners – and deliver about 33 per cent more “suck”.
Norman Fulton, a technology specialist with Harrogate-based industrial motor company Switched Reluctance Drives, said: “It’s a speed more common in high-speed industrial generators and turbo chargers in vehicles.” He added that Dyson’s challenge will be to ensure the motor has a strong containment because of the safety implications of working at 100,000 revs per minute.
From The Scotsman