Nathaniel Nifong sells a $795 ceiling robot that tidies a whole room on four cables
Neufangled's Stringman suspends a gripper from ceiling corners to move clutter and lab parts, with open-source hardware and local-only control.
By Ryan Merket · Published · Updated
Primary source: Hacker News
Why it matters
Stringman tests whether home robotics gets cheaper by removing the robot body altogether. If a four-motor ceiling system can do useful pickup and ferry work at $795, the expensive parts of domestic robots shift from actuators and mobility to perception, grasp reliability, and whether owners accept cables and anchors in a living room.
Nathaniel Nifong founded Neufangled Robotics in North Carolina with a narrow bet: a home robot can work from the ceiling without legs, wheels, or a human shape. Neufangled describes itself as an open-source hardware startup founded in 2025, with a mission to give people an organized home. Its product, Stringman, puts that bet into a room. Four motorized anchors mounted near the ceiling corners spool lines attached to a suspended gripper, letting the gripper travel through the room and descend to pick up objects.…
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