Robotic Products for Independent Living

Author: Ian C. Langtree - View Credentials
Published: 4 Feb 2009 - Updated: 28 Oct 2026
Publication Type: Informative

Table of Contents:
Synopsis - Overview - Related Content

Synopsis

Home robotic products including robotic lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, pool cleaners, and self-cleaning cat litter box.

Overview

Many disabled people living in single family homes incur significant expenses for lawn and cleaning services. Now there are robotic products available that enable elimination of these expensive services: robotic lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners and floor cleaners.

Robotic Lawn Mowers

Paradise Robotics sells robotic lawn mowers that mow the lawn all by themselves. Different models address lawn sizes from 3/4 acre to 5 acres and hill angles from 13 degrees to 27 degrees.

A thin wire is installed all around the property. The lawn mower robot mows within the wire. It is possible to put the wire around flower beds in the middle of the yard. Each model recharges itself in its charging base. The Lawnbott has a recharging garage that keeps the robot dry while recharging.

Lawnbott has a rain sensor that sends it back to the base when it rains. The BigMow and ParcMow actually mow in the rain. BigMow and ParcMow have sonar technology to detect objects and slow down.

All robotic mowers available today mow in a random pattern within the perimeter wire. The wire can be used to block out trees, or the mower can gently bump into trees or other objects.

Lawnbott mows up to four hours on a charge and recharges for three hours. These mowers do an excellent job maintaining the lawn, the lawn is always neatly mowed.

iRobot Self Cleaning Cat Litter Box

Cat owners have an additional time consuming chore - cleaning the litter box. Now there is a self-cleaning cat litter box that reduces the effort to simply taking a garbage bag of waste out of a drawer.

Litter-Robot looks like a miniature cement mixer. It has a spherical globe that keeps litter inside. The globe rotates after a programmable countdown completes. The countdown is key because it allows the urine clumps to solidify before being sifted and dropped into the large waste drawer. The only effort required to clean the cat litter box is to simply empty the waste drawer as often as needed. A disabled person in a wheelchair could locate the Litter Robot on a small table to ease the drawer emptying effort.

Litter-Robot is built to last, having very solid construction, and has received rave reviews from customers. Litter-Robot uses a patented litter sifting system to reliably separate the waste from the litter. Litter is efficiently preserved for the next use, which reduces litter cost. Your cat always encounters a clean litter box, saving your carpet from stains and odor.

Author Credentials: Ian C. Langtree is a writer, editor, and the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Disabled World, which he established in 2004 as one of the longest-running independent resources for disability news and information. Over more than two decades, he has written and edited thousands of articles on disability rights, health, accessibility, and assistive technology. Drawing on a global perspective shaped by extensive travel and lived experience, Ian is a committed advocate of the Social Model of Disability, the framework developed by disabled activists in the 1970s that focuses on removing societal barriers rather than on individual impairments. His writing is grounded in that framework and in a lasting commitment to disability rights, accessibility, and social inclusion. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and accomplishments, visit his full biography.