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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. [Read more…]

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. [Read more…]

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. [Read more…]

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. [Read more…]