One of the first moderate successes that Spindroids had was their line of automatic vacuum cleaners. The first model was the Hovering Hue. Its innovative technique of floating rather than walking or rolling made them popular. To begin with most early robots had enormous problems with movement. Work with robotic legs or wheeled propulsion units left much to be desired. The system of floating on a cushion of air allowed the Hovering Hues to move rather precisely. Plus, this application was just about silent when the vacuum was not on. So with one stroke the new company Spindroids cut away all of the research on robotic movement and struck out on their own.
    Named after a communist politician in France the Hovering Hues were always sold in a group. Several « workers » (see painting shown above) and a central processing unit were packaged together. The workers would scurry around the house or office searching for dust to vacuum. When their depositories were full they would then go to the central processing unit to unload the dust. Under the main body was generated a cushion of air and the intake hose was situated far enough away from the main body so that the down draft from the lift did not blow all the dust and dirt away from the Hoverer. The adjusting fan in the back of the unit provided steering and directional control. This large facet of the Hovering Hues actually was gave rise to the name of the company. Originally Spindroids was called S.E.R. which was short for Saint Etienne Robots. People began calling their calling their little Hovering Hues : Spindroids thanks to the spinning fan on their backs. Henceforth the company was called Spindroid. The name just stuck.
Early Problems ?
The Hovering Hues functioned quite well and often were working away when people were sleeping in their apartment. This shows how little noise these robots made even when vacuuming. As to any problems with these « spindroids »  the evidence is anecdotal . If you look again at the picture of a Hovering Hue worker unit, it is shown in its actual size. Thus they were fairly small. Pets were often said to regard this helpful little robots as prey, especially cats. This means that there were many damaged Hovering Hues at that time. This is not to say that the machines did not have their own sort of revenge. The Hovering Hues were designed to search out dust, dirt, pollen, hairs, etc. At certain times of the year cats tend to shed hair prodigiously. This would cause the Hovering Hues to more or less stalk the frazzled cat throughout the house. There were reports of incidences where a cat was taking a catnap when a Hovering Hue would stealthily approach the cat, its vacuum shut down. When the cleaning robot was right next to the cat it would activate its intake hoses and try to vacuum the unsuspecting feline. Another story often told is one where the robot would frequently clean out all of the dry cat food from the bowl just before the poor pet had a chance to eat any. It was a good epoch to be an animal psychiatrist.