ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17 -- United States Patent no. 12,550,861, issued on Feb. 17.
"Dog waste collection system" was invented by Lance S. McAfee (Kingman, Ariz.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A pet dropping retrieval and disposal device has a mobile unit and a base unit for automatic collection and disposal of pet droppings. The mobile unit navigates a yard area using a dual track drive system and a GPS receiver to locate droppings via a machine vision system camera and a methane sensor. The collected droppings are transferred to a temporary hopper via a conveyor belt and analyzed by a health sensor for potential health concerns. The base unit provides recharging via a charging port, facilit...