Iron maiden to press on and take steam out of domestic disputes

THE last bastion of domestic drudgery is about to fall thanks to the development of the world’s first automatic ironing machine.

Domestic disputes about whose turn it is to tackle the laundry basket could be over thanks to scientists who claim the iron maiden robot will work endlessly without complaining, getting bored, or burning a hole through your favourite shirt.

The majority of homes already have washing machines, dishwashers, vacuum cleaners and pop-up toasters. But no one has yet come near to conquering the most hated chore of all ironing.

Now a team of robotics, mechanical engineering and textile experts from King's College, London are pressing ahead to meet the challenge.

The machine, small enough to be stored under the stairs, would fold as well as iron the clothes. All the user would have to do is put them in a drawer.

Team leader Dr Jian Dai said: ''This would certainly not be an adaptation of an existing robot. It would be a robot built specifically to deal with this task.'' He admitted the complex nature of ironing made the project ''hugely challenging''. But he was confident of success.

As well as manipulating its ironing tools and the clothes themselves, the machine would have to avoid the common pitfall of burning a hole in the material.

''The robot needs to know what type of garment it is ironing, so it will have to include some kind of sensor that allows it to recognise what it is dealing with and how to treat it,'' said Dr Dai.

Coded tags similar to the washing instructions already sewn into clothes could be attached to garments by manufacturers. Pressing would be done by a combination of robot grippers and a specialist ironing attachment. These would unfold, iron and refold the clothes.