Aside from being an amusing tip of the hat to Phillip K. Dick, Carnegie Mellon's robo-ruminant makes a compelling case for the proposition that what may be missing from the household robotics 'killer app' might just be a dose of whimsy.

If, for instance, a robotic snow blower that looks like some sort of anime critter:

were available, if not to individuals, at least to homeowner's associations, day-care centers, theme parks, or malls and fleets of grass-nibbling, ball-retrieving, (hazard-avoiding) sheep cruised the fairways of the local golf courses or open spaces of city parks, wouldn't that be a bit better?

Some might ask what would happen to the usually seasonal minimum-wage workers who currently carry out many of these functions. What about the new market for robot repair techs on the Geek Squad?