I am perhaps unique among technology journalists in that I didn't spend a large part of my youth imbibing science fiction. Dan Dare comics were way off limits, and I am sad to say that I spent much of Dr Who hiding behind the sofa terrified that the Daleks might, one day, master the art of climbing stairs.
Had I been a little more sci-fi savvy though I would have undoubtedly grown up with the belief that robots are evil and are ultimately bent on world domination. I certainly wouldn't be embracing the new generation of robots that are starting to find their way into British homes. Evil or not, they are now coming thick and fast.
One of the big news stories earlier in the year in the white goods sector (i.e. all the not-very-sexy consumer electronics products like kettles and dishwashers) was that a major UK distributor had been found for the robot vacuum cleaner the Roomba.
Already a massive cult in the US, the Roomba is essentially a very basic robot (which costs $200 in the US or £300 over here) that can be programmed to vacuum your home by itself. Essentially it uses a three-stage process to clean the floor in a single pass. There's even a rotating brush that cleans right up to skirting boards.
The Roomba is intelligent enough to know where the edges of the room are and will switch itself off when the cleaning job is finished.
It certainly isn't the most sophisticated of robots, and even its die-hard admirers acknowledge that its owners do occasionally pop round with the dustpan and brush after it, yet its arrival marks what will inevitably be a massive trend of robots undertaking household chores.
It'll have plenty of company too. Early in 2003 Electrolux launched its robot vacuum cleaner, the much higher specified £1000 Trilobite. Since then many of the major players in the consumer electronics arena, including Samsung, Karcher and LG, have also debuted their own robot vacuum cleaners.
Monitoring the market is Dyson, who unveiled its robot vacuum cleaner, the DC06 in July 2001. Billed as the most intelligent domestic appliance for the home ever, the DC06 had more than fifty sensors feeding as many as three onboard computers. Yet while Dyson seem to have cracked programming the robot, it still feels that there are question marks over robot cleaners' pick up performance and battery life.
Earlier in the year a spokesperson told trade magazine Electrical Retailing Monthly (ERM) that it had scrapped the DC06 and was "currently working on a new robot [that] incorporates improved DC06 technology and root cyclone cleaning power to deliver a truly autonomous alternative to manual vacuuming cleaning."
It's a view that Sean Hannam, editor of ERM, broadly agrees with.
"Robot vacuum cleaners are the biggest innovation in the floor care market has seen since the introduction of Dyson's dual cyclone technology," he says, "but whether consumers will take them seriously remains to be seen.
"I think they are largely seen as gimmicks. They are likely to sell when the price point comes down to below £300. But even then I still see them as rather an expensive secondary cleaner. You still need another cleaner to do your stairs."
The living room floor won't be the only domestic arena that witnesses a robot war - there could soon be a battle going on for your lawn too.
Electrolux recently unveiled its first robot lawn mower, the £1500 Automower. Targeted at those with reasonable sized lawns, the device borrows some of the robot navigation technology premiered on the Trilobite, though in this instance the robot is cutting grass rather than sucking dust up.
Similar to other high-tech mowers, the Automower has an integrated mulching system, which apparently leaves smaller clippings than most conventional mowers. As they decompose very quickly there is apparently no need for the gardener to wander round collecting the grass.
Users choose how often they wanted their lawns mown and then basically leave the Automower to do its thing. Once it has finished moving it returns to its battery charger, venturing out again when it has been programmed to do so.
Although Electrolux is the most high profile company to deliver a robot lawn mower, it didn't get there first. Robomow has been selling a range of robotic lawn mowers for a couple of years now. The latest, the RL550, is £750 - half the price of the Electrolux - and shares many of its features.
There are also likely to be many robots found in stockings this Christmas as the market for intelligent toys continues to explode.
Sony pioneered this sphere with its loveable AIBO dogs. It is also promising to deliver someone to walk them soon with its innovative upright robot the QRIO.
Yet if you don't fancy waiting a year or so for a QRIO to arrive or, indeed, if you'd rather not shell out the thousands of pounds to own one, budget versions of the upright robot are coming thick and fast.
My favourite is the wonderfully named Robosapien. This hard-as-nails upright robot might not be as clever as the Sony QRIO, but it does boast 67 pre-programmed functions including kick, throw and so on, and is fully conversant in caveman. It can also perform some neat Kung Fu kicks.
It is available for £80 from Boys Stuff.
Finally for anyone with a penchant for robots, Heriot-Watt University is hosting what sounds like a fantastic robot exhibition, ROBOT, in the Callendar House in Falkirk. Running from May 22nd to September 5th, the exhibition promises an interactive journey through the history of robots and also offers visitors the chance to control a giant robotic arm sited at the university.
Roomba - or 08701 650044
