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Yea or Nay: This Robotic Toilet-Cleaning Device

It's made by Robotech (not THAT Robotech)

By Rain Noe - February 13, 2019

in Tech

A company named Altan Robotech (yes, that's their real name) is selling Giddel, a small robotic toilet cleaning device. You can let the device do its thing while you try to initiate hooking up with your partner. If you don't believe me, watch the video below:

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Were I the director, I probably would have edited out the footage starting at the 0:15 mark.

In any case, while I appreciate that the designers came up with the little recharging dock for the object and thought about where it should live…

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…I am critical of the Giddel itself's design.

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Aside from the fact that it just looks like something that's going to break, the variety of surface transitions and forms make it look as if the object was designed over the phone. I'd want to see something that visually corresponded with the typically smooth shape of a toilet bowl, not something that looks like Marvin the Martian.

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Tasked with designing this, what would you all have done differently?

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Bobtato Smith

5 years ago

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It looks like it has the scrubbing power of a summer breeze, the filth-accumulating nooks and crannies of twenty toilet brushes, and the build quality of a 99¢ store Transforcers toy. But on the other hand, it gives you the motivation to install AC outlets in your bathroom, and presumably generates a refreshing spray of... moisture... as it scrubs.

I have actually contemplated power tools for toilet cleaning, because I live in a hard water area and that limescale buildup needs SCRUBBING. But I was thinking more of a long bowden-cable-type power drill attachment, with minimal surface area, and possibly made entirely of biodegradable materials so you could just compost it when you can't face keeping it around any longer.

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Ashley Cooper

5 years ago

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How would I have done it differently? I would have first worked out how a plastic bowl-mounted device could possibly generate the same amount of torque as the human arm to .. you know.. remove deposits... Secondly, all that real estate taken up making the thing look like a cutesy robot when all it needs to do is remove the ... deposits.... And finally- you have to touch the thing to install and remove it anyway, so why not just grab a brush and be done with it?

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Brad Johnson

5 years ago

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$400?! I'll stick with my $2 brush.

Agreed about the awkward moment at 0:15. Also, why did they give it eyes?

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juan sadder

5 years ago

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I have an 11 year old son: this robot is pothetically narrow in its effective reach and as a floor fixture aesthetically clashes with every room other than the toy room (who has a toy room?). Cleaning the robot itself was obviously never considered. The toilet should be mounted over the shower pan and separated from the sink by glass, also separated from the shower by a hinged glass allowing an easy power wash. This is an architectural problem.

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Razvan Mitulescu

5 years ago

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This is such a horrible design. Waste of resources. More on the point: too big, too much space required to store it, the holder is open - imagine the smell and look of those brushes, battery operated - really? you would have to change them so often! then not to mention that you have to buy their custom toilet seat so you can hook it there. and I could go more, but I would just say that if you want something to clean you toilet, that has to be integrated with the bowl or seat, and you never have to touch it - just replenish cleaning product through a hole somewhere.

And who made that video? what was the point of showing that cuddling at 0:15" ?

:)

another useless robot to replace a proven design - the almighty brush

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