PR/Media coverage

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Automatic Dust cleaner

A Norwegian Invention gives you the joy of being audience to household cleaning without having bad conscience.

While Germany and South Korea played the semi-final in the World Championship in football, my floor was cleaned. It was a satisfying feeling to sit in font of the TV and listen to the self moving mop that efficiently ran under my bed. Afterwards, I could see the high level of dust that the mop had picked up. This also identifies the real scope of the mop. Namely to pick up loose dust and human/animal hair.

Moving forwards

The mop have a micro fibre cloth that I attached to a simple plastic frame. In the middle of the frame You leave a battery driven, rechargeable, and self rolling ball. This ball gets the mop to move randomly back and forth on your floor. A weight is placed inside the ball (not in the middle). When the ball starts, it will move and continuously change direction when it hits any barriers. Within an hour, the mop has moved over the whole floor 60m². This does not mean the floor is completely clean.

Fine mopping

The mop will not remove stains, sand, lego and socks, but this has never been the purpose of the RoboMop. The supplier says that mopping with the RoboMop will help You to delay the manual cleaning for a couple of days. But it is definitely not suitable for everybody.

A family with children on ground level with the house full of grass, mud and stains from lemonade will have less use of the invention. If the house has rough surfaces the RoboMop may have problems. It is ideal for people living in flats with light house dust and animal hair.

Big Brother

The more intelligent “relatives” of RoboMop are also about to be launched in the market. Trilobite from Electrolux is one of them and it has higher ability to suck up dust, higher intelligence and a considerable higher price. We will write about the Trilobite later in this section.

The RoboMop inventor Torbjørn Aasen has all the time looked for a simple RoboMop design. It is innovative and according to the website “Substantially supported by the Norwegian Authorities”- But it is not more revolutionary than that the ball has been picked up from numerous of children’s toys.

Besides the launch of the RoboMop, the inventor develops advanced mathematical programs, research at Hospital of Haukeland, in addition to complex mathematical theories and fractal geometry.

Tellef Øgrim 060702 Dagens Næringsliv

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We are testing the robot cleaner

RoboMop is a brilliant idea. But does it work?

The invention is definitely genius. Cleaning at home is dead boring! Why not make a low- cost robot that cleans your floor while you are at work? The inventor Torbjørn Aasen developed such a robot and now it is ready for the international launch.

Dagbladet have tested the invention and was not totally convinced.

It all started because Torbjørn Aasen was fed up with cleaning the floor in his own living room. He invented the RoboMop and signed up for the inventor competition Venture Cup.  The idea is patented and is produced in China by the merchant, Gerhard Runshaug Jr., who in the past has exported pigs ears as snacks to the same country.

Aasen have scientifically proved that the mop really works through laser detector tests. The tests resulted in a smudge reduction of 50%. When we heard that the price was only 298 Norwegian Kroner, we just had to test it to see if it was true!

Easy to use

Let us take the positive issues first. RoboMop is very easy to use. It contains of 3 pieces, namely the rotating and rechargeable ball, a plastic top hat and viscose micro fibre cloths. When the ball is left on the floor, it will change direction every time it hits any obstacles. It is so easy that even a 2-year old child could handle this in a couple of minutes. After a few minutes around on the floor and under beds and sofas, the mop had already collected considerable amounts of dust.

This looks promising!

After some time we start to experience some difficulties. The most noticeable drawback was that the cloth started to become loose, and finally fell of the mop. This happened several times during the half-an-hour test-period.

The mop is supposed to stop when hitting a rug. When u roll a mop over a rug, dust is left without being captured.  This did not always happen to be the case. Several times the mop flew over the rug and left some noticeable amounts of dust on the rug, before it rushed on to the floor again.

“Robomop does not get stuck in cables or any other obstacles” it says on the packaging. We experienced something different. Twice the mop got entirely stuck and needed a helping hand in order to continue. The first time the mop ran underneath a box of toys and was stuck. The second time ti was stuck between some chairs, a table and a cable. It was spinning on the parquet until it was removed.

The problem seems to be the construction. The surface, where you attach the dust cloths underneath, makes it get stuck sometimes. Furthermore, the mop is so light that it will actually move over small obstacles instead of stopping . This is not a robot as far as we see. This is actually just rotating ball without any sensors of logic. It is the same ball as used on toys in the street. 5 disposable mops was supplied with the invention. Probably will many people not purchase refill when these are finished as we regard the invention much more fun than useful.

Web survey in Dagbladet at the same time as the article was written:

“Will You consider to base Your cleaning on RoboMop”

41%No 58.5% YES (668 respondents)

Dagbladet, Jan Toresen 19/06/02

(Comments from DnAH: Firstly, we suspect that the journalist writing this article has not read the instruction manuals for the mop where it is thoroughly described that the user should scratch with a nail to join together the velcro and the dust paper in a proper manner. We are the first to admit that the current solution is not ideal under circumstances with numerous of carpets and rugs on the floor. However, we moderated this problem by supplying a separate and free upgrade kit with additional velcros to every retailer selling the RoboMop. It may be that the author of this article did not receive this upgrading set when he bought the product, for this we deeply apologise. In addition, the author argues that the mop has a tendency to get stuck and not get loose again. This is not our experience. RoboMop has been tested under diverse conditions in the homes of the consumers. We have never heard from them, nor seen through our own scientific tests, that this has been a problem. If any of our customers should have experienced problems with the aspects above (after having followed the user manual), we encourage You to contact us so that we will be able to improve our productJ)

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World Premiere at Sartor Shopping Centre

On Saturday 6^th of April, the Norwegian inventor, Torbjørn Aasen, proudly presented his automatic cleaning robot. Sparkjøp (Norwegian retail Chain) had the honour of introducing the RoboMop in their stores. This will definitely revolutionise the cleaning at home.

Have not used the vacuum cleaner for a year.

Mr. Aasen wanted to solve a problem that annoyed him, namely the everlasting floor mopping combined with a busy lifestyle with small children.  On the way, he also became aware that other people would also enjoy the invention.

Easy but still…

RoboMop is so simple and genius that one thinks: Why have no one thought about this before? Most people have found it too good to be true, even while they se it cleaning efficiently at the floor in the middle of the shopping centre. –I appreciate that the invention makes people smile, was the comment from Aasen.

RoboMop removes the dust

RoboMop works just like a traditional dust mop with disposable micro fibre cloths. It sucks up dust when the mop runs over the floor (While You do something else..). The product contains a rechargeable ball that rolls around and changes direction after contact with obstructions.- It simply keeps the room free of dust.

Patented Invention

Mr Aasen has already patented the invention a long time ago, and he has wan several awards for the mop. For the last year he has been working half- time at his ordinary workplace to get the time to develop the concept/idea that he had 2 years ago.

-There is dust everywhere, so when people see that it works, there will be is a huge market for the product, says Aasen, who has given the sales and production rights to a company in Bergen. -I do not want to spend time marketing the product myself.  I leave that to people who know the business.

RoboMop will be launched internationally, first in China, then Japan. This is very exciting, the inventor, who dreams that one day all furniture’s will be adapted to fit the RoboMop measurement, tells us.

Vestnytt, Journalists name  unknown

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From Pig Ears to Robot Mop

The merchant, Gerhard Runshaug Jr. has started production of a cleaning robot, called RoboMop, in China. Previously, he sold pig ears together with Johan Fredrick Odfjel, his former partner in the DnAH-Group. Having a robot that cleans your home while You are at work is like an American fiction film. I can confirm that the invention works. But whether the consumer will run to the shop to buy the battery driven and rechargeable invention remains to see.

Odfjel is out

All research tells us that dry mopping and cleaning without water and soap is the best way to clean, the inventor and researcher, Torbjørn Aasen tells us.

He has wan several prises for the idea, and the merchant Gerhard Runshaug Jr. got the production and sales rights in front of the nose of 3M. Totally, they have invested about 600.000 Norwegian Kroner in the project. Gerhard Runshaug Jr. has much experience with production in China. He exported pig ears together with Johan Fredrick Odfjel. For many Chinese, pig ears are a delicatessen. The pig ear business has ceased and Odfjell has left the company.

“Our fantasy sets the limits”

Odfjel sold his 49% of the company to the Runshaug-family, who controls the company. The company has a turnover of 15 million Norwegian Kroner and the last 3 years it has had a profit of 500.000 NOK. The main product lines in the company are vimpels and flags, mops and micro fibre, imported from China.

-There is a big cleaning market. Only the fantasy limits how much that can sell of RoboMop. We started the sale to retailers this week, and there is a very positive attitude to the product.. We have started a test production of a few thousand units before we start series production of the invention, Gerhard Runshaug Jr. says, who has already made deals with a major grocery retailer in Norway.

-I cannot confirm the name of the retailer yet, but everything indicates that this can be an excellent commercial product. We have great belief in RoboMop and we use Norway as the test market. We are also looking for international brand builders for the international marketing.

Translated from Ole Klokeide, DN 180102

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This Cleans Your House. -RoboMop

Torbjørn Aasen is like the rest us when it comes to having a negative attitude to domestic cleaning, but he has done something about it. He has invented a mop that removes the dirt by itself. – And now it is ready for the international launch.

The ball rolls around on the floor surrounded by a bowler hat-like frame. Beneath the frame, a micro fibre dust cloth is attached. This dust paper draws up loose dust and hair and smudge. The suggested retail price will be around 298 NOK, including a rechargeable battery, charger, the round mop frame and the robot ball.

Indefinitely big

Yesterday the invention was presented at venture cup 2002. It is acknowledged as a business plan and will be produced for an expectedly enormous market.

-The reason behind the invention is that I have struggled with mopping of my floors at home. It is boring and time consuming and I was sure there had to be an easier and more automatic way., Torbjørn Aasen tells Dagbladet.

In June

He started to play around with the idea about two Years ago, and he now has all patent rights internationally. Aasen is in partnership with DnAH-Group, and the first test production has been ordered already.

RoboMop will be sold through Grocery, DIY and hardware retail chains, and will be available in the outlets from June. The invention is environmentally friendly and be operated while You are at work, or can collect dust while You and Your family watch TV.

Leif Stang, Dagbladet

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An Entrepreneur with luck

A winner of the event last year is in front of a world breakthrough. Many of the finalists last year are expected to be in front of international success.

Ready for laziness?

The winner of last Years competition have shown a tendency to go from services to physical products, says Torunn Leine Auestad, the Venture Cup information officer. She is specifically pointing out the RoboMop as proof that people will take the inventions show results. This is a very efficient innovation for people who like to do other more interesting things than vacuum cleaning. The little machine runs around on Your floor all by its own, and within an hour, it is supposed to have covered Your whole 60m² floor. Electrolux have a competing product, an automatic vacuum cleaner that costs about 1500 NOK. You can now find RoboMop in 600 retail outlets in Norway. The inventor Mr. Aasen, tells us that the 5000 NOK that he wan in the qualifying rounds of Venture Cup, were very important. - I only had an idea that I signed up for the competition. I got valuable evaluation from invention authorities and this gave me the confidence to continue, he says.

To win 25 000 Norwegian Kroner later in the competition and 30 000 in another, was less important. Now he already had the right confidence.

-That the idea I developed 2 years ago already is on TV commercials, is a fantastic feeling.

Jonas Bakken, Business Standard nr 5 2002

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The wonder boy of Geometry

If any single person can save the world, then Mr Torbjørn Aasen (42) is a qualified candidate. He claims that he can tell you what direction the stock market moves at the same time as he is cleaning the floor. These methods and calculations are the same as the ones that are used in the RoboMop.

..Mr Aasen researches in mathematical chaos theory and fractal theory and artificial neural networks..

..-I also work with other spin-off products from RoboMop like vehicles that can move on water surface, this is inventions that are about to be patented..

The Balance

Aasen have received considerable response. We have received awards and financial support from numerous of places. The first time was in the Venture Cup 2000. This award was not more than 5000 NOK, but it was probably the most important. This was when I first presented the “wild idea” RoboMop . To get a positive feedback there, confirmed that I was on the right track. . I also received important support from Statens Veiledingskontor for Oppfinnere (The governmental guidance office for inventors) Aasen is planning to participate in the annual Venture Cup this year as well.

When it comes to income, Mr Aasen expects licence income from RoboMop, which is produced and marketed by DnAH- Group in Bergen

Andreas Klemsdal, Finansavisen 260202

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New competition for entrepreneurs

If You have a good idea, the can be rewarding to participate in Venture Cup. This is where the entrepreneurs compete for money and consultancy assistance. Now, this year’s competition has started.

..RoboMop- This automatic dust cleaner changes direction when it meets obstacles. The RoboMop was one of the 10 winners in the competition last Year..

New Thinking

..Another participant have already started production of a dust cleaner that runs on its own.. This innovation will the in the shops already this summer.

Henrik Ebne Økonomisk Rapport 02/2002

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An innovative meeting

The bright inventors of Bergen

Aasen is launching RoboMop

When we ask what is special about being an inventor, they are not really sure what to say. They admit that developing an invention is quite a process..

-We are not that extraordinary. It is all about coming over the first obstacle and develop the idea into something more. Many people have innovative and creative ideas. Aasen tells us about the constant information flow that we are exposed to. – We continuously move around in a massive information flow. By focussing on an idea or a specific problem, we program our brains to be more attentive. This means that we let relevant information in.

..It was essential for my innovating spirit and for the product development to get the confirmation that my invention touches “something important” by people who know the game. Some of the driving force is, of course, money. But the most important is that knowledge and ideas is received and picked up by people.

High capacity

Aasen and his inventor colleague, Mr Golmen, Are both concerned with developing an environment for innovative and new thinking. They both encourage people with new ideas to participate in the Venture Cup as they have had much use of this themselves.

Knut Kristiansen, Bergensavisen, 130601

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The Invention with the clean intentions

Torbjørn Aasen is so fed up with vacuum cleaning that he made a robot that could do the work for him. The little invention that moves impatiently around on the floor, have been called RoboMop. This invention is simple and can be produced to very low costs. It reduces the need to go around to look for the dust Yourself.

Cleaning is boring

-You must be all housewives favourite with this invention. –Yes, probably. It was an acute need that made me think of other methods to remove dust, Torbjørn tells BA. Yesterday, the invention was awarded Hordaland Fylkeskommunes Oppfinnerpris(The Hordaland County Inventor price) 2000.

Numerous of politicians were eager to sign up for a product in the first production batch.

-I do dislike to mop myself. This is why I believe that the mop covers a general need that most people feel, the inventor says.

The engineer is a chief engineer at Haukeland Sykehus (Regional hospital in Norway), He is also researching and developing mathematical chaos theory models within finance and working as inventor.

The invention consist of a ball with a motor inside.  This is the actual driving force in the mop. Outside the ball there is a mop frame with a disposable dust paper attached to it.- The idea was developed at home when I was watching a cloth on top of an orange. When I have decided to find a solution for something, I manage to filter away most other things until I find a good solution to the problem, the inventor explains.

The invention hunts randomly for dust at Your floor. Tests confirm that within 15 minutes, the mop has covered about 90% of a 30m² room..

The jury, who have given the invention to Mr Aasen, means that the invention has a potential both in national and international markets. One of the main reasons for this is its simplicity. If we had not believed it had a commercial potential, we would not have chosen it.. I particularly noticed that the men amongst the jury appreciated the invention. It will not do all the work at home. It does not cover carpets.

Ola Henning Målsnes, Bergensavisen 141200

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The Cleaning Robot that made Mr Aasen win the Invention Award

Torbjørn Aasen, has been awarded the Hordaland county Inventor Price 2000. Ha gets 30 000 NOK for having developed a cleaning robot that is both easy to use and low in price and that reduces the need for cleaning manually

Aasen is educated as a civil engineer in cybernetics and IT. He is currently working as chief engineer/researcher at HaukelandRegionalHospital. Aasen is also an entrepreneur in the company Synergetic Finance., where he is developing a mathematical chaos theory within finance.

The invention is put together by a ball as the driving mechanism, the mop frame with a “top-hat” that provides a surface for the disposable dust paper. The ball makes the invention run on its own. Although the mop tracks down dust and light smudge randomly, it will have covered about 90% of a 30m2floor surface within 15 minutes. The prototype has good functionality and the patent board can confirm that, nobody has patented anything similar. In October this Year, SVO (The governmental, guidance office for inventors) provided financial support to development of the invention.

This year, as in previous years, the inventor claims that the work of an inventor requires much work and patience.

The invention conforms to all requirements that is needed to be a worthy winner in the competition. The idea has high news value and inventive height. The RoboMop have a potential that reaches internationally and will contribute to development of new export related employment. This is in accordance with the strategic guidelines for industrial development in HordalandCounty.

Stanley Hauge, Hordalands Nytt, no 6/2000-20 December 2000

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This is RoboMop

The invention of the Year in Hordaland, is a cleaning robot that keeps Your floor clean. Torbjørn Aasen was awarded the Invention price today for the motorised dust cleaner.

The invention is put together by  a ball with a rotating motor inside. On top of this there is a mop frame that provides grip for a disposable dust cloth.

The mop will move over 90% of a 30m² floor surface within 15 minutes.

HordalandCounty is organising this invention award to (with 30 000 NOK to the winner) to promote creativity and innovation in the county.

NRK, 13/12 2000, Asle Hella

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Was awarded for the dust- hunter

This is every bachelors dream date! The robot ball will run around on its own in every corner of your flat. You do not even have to lift a finger. – I hate to vacuum clean, and I hope that the invention is in the marketplace already next year, the inventor tells us.

Today, Torbjørn Asen was awarded Hordaland Fylkeskommunes inventors price 2000 (30 000 NOK) for his brilliant idea.

There is no doubt that many people will send him a friendly thought when it has been produced.

Low cost product

- It is very cheap to produce and I am in dialogue with investors.  It is very likely that it may be under many Christmas trees already next year, an optimistic winner tells us.

The engineer and researcher admits that he hates vacuum clean  and this has been his inspiration. – It removes dust in a very efficient way, but it cannot take over for the traditional wet mopping, he tells us.

Runs around

The robot is put together by a ball with a motor inside. This ball makes it roll across the floor all by its own.

Even though the invention runs on a random principle, tests show that it covers an area of 30m² with 90% accuracy within 15 minutes.

TV2, 13/12-2000, Morten Eek

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Cleaning secrets in Norge Rundt (Tv show)

The sunbeams have already revealed the need for proper house cleaning. In Norge Rundt, we have a little helping hand, by an expert.

The 60s was the decade with dust- hysteria. While the men built the country, the housewives were supposed to keep the house nice and tidy. This was the time when the vacuum cleaner was becoming a common cleaning item in most households.  The concept “week- end cleaning” was not only a concept, and the total house cleaning was done at least once a year. But how do we clean today?

Micro cloths

The busy people of today are probably not as enthusiastic with the cleaning as the traditional housewife, but the techniques of today are slightly different as well. It is very popular to mop with different mops for floors walls and ceilings. Many have turned to micro fibre. This is dust cloths where no soap is needed. Our cleaning expert tells us that it is also important to use fat removing soap.

Some hints

The cleaning manager at Tomra Cleaning Agency, Paul Jensen , have many hints about cleaning,  Vacuum clean the ceiling and walls before You start to wash. This way here will not bet any spider web in the way when You wash.  Start to was the walls from the bottom and move upwards to avoid stripes.

RoboMop

The most fun and easy way Norge Rundt could fine to clean the house, was a robot that cleans all by its own. The RoboMop is invented by Torbjørn Aasen, Bergen. In other words, Norge Rundt is testing both traditional and new equipment for domestic cleaning.

See our show on Friday and find out more…

Norge Rundt (TV programme)NRK