Shops'N'Bots

By Maryanne Murray Buechner, Lev Grossman and Anita Hamilton

RED ROVER, RED ROVER

In 2004, the hottest car in the world will have a top speed of 10 ft. per min.--if, that is, the world happens to be Mars. NASA is currently testing two robotic rovers to send to the Red Planet in a mission set to launch next summer. The two solar-powered vehicles will travel up to 330 ft.--compared with Sojourner's 16 ft.--a day while using their nine cameras and three spectrometers to make scientific observations. First on the agenda? Looking for traces of water. INVENTOR NASA AVAILABILITY January 2004 TO LEARN MORE fido.jpl.nasa.gov

CLEAN MACHINE

Let's face it, vacuuming sucks. That's why a group of M.I.T. brainiacs created Roomba, a robot that vacuums your house for you. Running on rechargeable batteries, Roomba roams your house entirely on its own, swooping up dust bunnies and stray Cheerios and zipping under beds and couches where mere humans can't reach. Its sensors keep it from bumping into walls and furniture or falling off staircases. When it finishes a room, Roomba beeps proudly and turns itself off. INVENTOR iRobot AVAILABILITY Now, $199 TO LEARN MORE www.roombavac.com

SHOP AROUND THE CLOCK

What's 18 ft. wide, fully automated and open 24 hours a day? Despite its name (which already seems a little out of date), the Shop 2000 is the cutting edge of robotic retail: a vending machine with the inventory of a minimart. The coin-and credit-card-operated vendor carries up to 200 items, from olive oil to computer discs to sandwiches to toothpaste (storing the perishables at a frosty 35DEGF). There's no smile with your service, but you do get the fun of watching a robotic arm grab your purchase. With convenience stores reporting a shortage of labor, don't be surprised if one opens on your block sometime soon. INVENTOR Automated Distribution Technologies, Inc. AVAILABILITY So far, only one in the U.S., in Washington TO LEARN MORE www.shop2000online com