The Roomba robot vacuum cleaner appears to currently employ a random approach to vacuuming the carpet in a house although we have been informed that its more involved that being just random. In that way, we mean that it does cover every part of the floor a certain amount of times to make sure every square inch is clear.
This new patent though looks to make cleaning the floor even more accurate. It uses external celestial beacons that track Roombas movements across the floor and that data looks to then be used to create a map of the floor and a way to vacuum it. We assume that this will also ensure every inch is vacuumed as well as making it quicker to vacuum the floor. [click to continue…]
Engadget managed to get hold of a Neato XV-11 robot vacuum to test to see if it's any good at cleaning floors. The Neato XV-11 goes up against the Roomba as well as other makes and models of robot vacuums.
The Neato XV-11 is different in how it works when compared to the Roomba. When using the Roomba it has a large bumper across the front that when it bumps in to something, it changes direction. A sensor does detect an object but is there to just slow the Roomba down before hitting the wall. The Neato has a laser scanner installed that can scan the room while vacuuming to know where it can and cannot go. [click to continue…]
We first mentioned the Neato XV-11 robot vacuum about a month ago and were impressed with what we saw in the press details. What makes the XV-11 stand out from other robot vacuums is that it uses lasers to track obstacles and walls within the room it is cleaning allowing to to more precisely work around the room without bouncing off furniture. Also the cleaner uses a more accurate cleaning pattern that allows it to cover the floor just once rather than several times. This speeds up the cleaning cycle allowing batteries to be kept for cleaning other rooms.
OhGizmo were able to get a demo of the XV-11 at CES with a quick demonstration of how it works around a room. I have to say it looks a little slower than the Roomba, but if it only needs to cover the floor once then perhaps the overall time will be a lot quicker. [click to continue…]
A few robotic vacuums have shown up this last week with LG creating the RoboKing, Neato creating the Neato XV11 both of which are set to tackle the Roomba. ASUS have also revealed a new robot vacuum called the ECleaner which also is aimed at tackling the automatic home cleaning section of the market.
The ECleaner ads another feature to automated vacuuming by adding a 6000 hour UV light that is used to disinfect the floor and emit fragrances. [click to continue…]
LG have created a new robot vacuum cleaner called the LG RoboKing. The RoboKing is smaller than the previous model measuring just 90mm tall where as before the previous version was 130mm tall. This allows the vacuum to manoeuvre more easily under objects such as book cases and furniture.
As well as being shorter in height the vacuum has also got 13db quieter and now measures 50db when in use. The LG RoboKing has two cameras built in allowing it to more easily navigate around a room. Programming has also been improved it seems as the vacuum also works 30 percent quicker than previous models perhaps by cleaning a room more efficiently rather than randomly like before. [click to continue…]
Neato have built the XV11 robotic vacuum cleaner perhaps in attempt to knock Roomba off the top spot. The Neato XV11 appears to be a serious challenger to the Roomba range of robots and has a number of significant improvements that could see it do very well.
The Neato XV11 works slightly different when cleaning a room by using what appears to be a more methodical approach. When compared to the Roomba that uses a spiralling pattern along with a system which allows the Roomba to bounce of objects and appears to randomly cover the carpet, the XV11 maps along the walls of the room to know how big the room is. Rooms are typically broken down in to 15' x 15' and if power gets low mid clean, the XV11 goes back to it's base to recharge and then carries on where it left off. Another difference between the two vacuums is that the Roomba uses virtual walls and the XV11 uses laser to detect doorways and wont leave a room unless it is told to do so. The system used on the XV11 is called SLAM which means simultaneous localization and mapping. SLAM has lasers on the top that detect objects 360 degrees around it. With that data pathfinding can be done as well as obstacle avoidance. [click to continue…]
Roomba Robot Vacuum cleaners normally have the job of cleaning the carpets of your home and then docking to charge ready for the next scheduled task of cleaning your carpet again. Well, that's what I thought till I came across this funky flickr group who use long-exposure photography to capture their vacuums randomly roaming around their carpets.
It appears like LED's are attached to the vacuum cleaners and small piles of dirt thrown on the carpet to create some unique imagery and circles. Check out the pictures below (after the jump). [click to continue…]
The Roomba Robot Vacuum cleaner is normally used to clean your carpets automatically. However, a group of researchers over at the Calgary University are testing the mixing of emotions with the Roomba.
The Roomba was modified to react to signals sent to it from a device that reads your stress levels. The device monitors muscle tension and eye movement in an attempt to let the Roomba know how you are feeling. If you are stressed out then the vacuum will back off a bit and move slower. [click to continue…]
2009 is almost upon us. As we come to a close of 2008 I thought I'd look back over the year and see where abouts Gadget Venue was and where it is now. Over the course of 2008 Gadget Venue had over 1 Million people visit the site viewing over 1.5 million pages. [click to continue…]
Cleaning floors has never been something that I actually enjoy, hence the reason I went and got my self an iRobot Roomba so I could vac the floor with just the push of a button. I could continue my lazyness by getting an iRobot Scooba to wash the kitchen floor, but this RC floor cleaner looks more interesting to me. [click to continue…]
Reviewing a vacuum cleaner isn't the most interesting of things I can think of to do, however, when it's a Robot Vacuum Cleaner then suddenly it becomes more interesting. Today I am reviewing the iRobot Roomba 530 Vacuum Cleaner and I have to admit, it's amazing! The thought of leaving a robot to sort all my home vacuuming is great! Just quickly, another vacuum to check out is the neato vacuum cleaner that just recently launched.
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If you love automating tasks in your house such as cleaning the carpets with a Roomba robot vacuum then this solar powered robot lawn mower is definitely a must-have. This 'sci-fi' looking gadget can cut up to approximately 2300 square meters of grass automatically (you'll also be able to program how much lawn there is to cut) and being able to programme a schedule into the mower will mean you won't have to be around as it activates itself and works away whenever you like.
The robot mower uses a form of hybrid power to keep it's batteries charged, in that both electricity from the wall and solar energy from the sun will keep the batteries charged each day ready for it's next run around the lawn. Each charge though will see the robot mower through about 40 minutes of grass cutting (so this won't really be used for any of you who have a stadium for a yard). Then at the end of its run, the robot automatically docks back onto it's charger ready for the next cycle. So with no emissions, virtually no noise and seeing as its powered by the sun, this little mower will put smiles on those who are more 'green' focused. [click to continue…]