Today’s invention is an aftermarket, wheeled cradle for eg the Henry vacuum cleaner, which performs a number of extra functions:
1. It widens the wheelbase, so that slight tugs on the hose don’t cause it to capsize infuriatingly.
2. It contains a battery and transformer so that both the cleaner’s motor and the cradle itself can be powered wirelessly. A small pull on the hose causes the cradle to move forward in that direction.
This could allow a conventional vacuum cleaner to act as autonomously as eg a Roomba.
As a further refinement, we might do away with the cradle’s powered wheels and instead equip the cleaner with the ability to push itself around using very high speed bursts of blown air from the ‘vacuum’.
