Category Archives: Robot Models

iRobot Press Release

iRobot Expands Popular Home Robot Line with the World’s Most Compact Floor Washing Robot and the Next Generation Roomba

With iAdapt Technology and Innovative Design, iRobot has Every Room of the House Covered
BEDFORD, Mass., Jan. 3, 2011 – iRobot Corp. (NASDAQ: IRBT), a leader in delivering robotic technology-based solutions, today announced two new home robots to do your dirty work: the iRobot Scooba® 230 – a floor washing robot small enough to clean in tight spaces and around bathroom fixtures – and the iRobot Roomba® 700 Series, the smartest and most effective Roomba vacuum cleaning robots to date. Both will be unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on January 6.

iRobot Scooba 230 and iRobot Roomba 700 Series use iAdaptâ„¢ Responsive Cleaning Technology, the most intuitive, flexible and effective way to clean your floors. This system of software and sensors monitors the environment 64 times per second, using dozens of behaviors to ensure the entire floor is thoroughly cleaned. The dirt-centric technology ensures thorough coverage, including under and around furniture, and multiple passes over the areas that need it most.

“These new robots represent our ongoing commitment to developing innovative products that make a difference in people’s lives,” said Jeff Beck, president of iRobot’s Home Robots division. “While Roomba is already the world’s best-selling vacuum cleaning robot, we continue to make improvements to ensure it is the best on the market and stays at the head of the pack. With the compact Scooba 230, we focused on reducing size without compromising effectiveness and navigability. The launch of Scooba 230 has effectively made one of people’s least favorite household chores, cleaning the bathroom, a whole lot easier.”

Small but Mighty
Scooba 230 is a powerful and compact cleaning machine. At 3.5 inches tall and 6.5 inches in diameter, the robot easily cleans in tight spaces, including under and around furniture and bathroom fixtures. The robot’s three-stage cleaning system washes, scrubs and squeegees floors, neutralizing up to 97 percent of common household bacteria*. Scooba 230 holds enough cleaning solution to scrub up to 150 square feet of linoleum, tile or sealed hardwood floors in a single cleaning session.

Unlike with a mop and bucket, Scooba only uses clean solution to wash your floors, never dirty water. Scooba 230’s water management system includes an active reservoir that keeps the cleaning solution and dirty water separate inside the robot. While the robot is cleaning, the active reservoir shrinks in size as cleaning solution is put down on the floor, freeing up space in the robot to hold the dirty water that is picked up. Scooba doesn’t move dirt (or dirty water) around – it gets rid of it.

Scooba uses a series of lights and chimes to let you know it has successfully finished cleaning. The bottom plate of the robot snaps on and off without tools, making it fast and easy to rinse the scrubbing brushes and the squeegee after each use.

Virtual Wall® technology creates an invisible beam that the robot won’t cross, keeping Scooba 230 in the rooms you want to clean and out of the ones you don’t. Cliff sensors ensure the robot automatically avoids stairs and drop-offs while cleaning.

The World’s Best-Selling Vacuum Cleaning Robot Just Got Even Better
The award-winning Roomba vacuum cleaning robot has been revolutionizing the way people clean their homes since 2002, and iRobot has sold more than five million home robots worldwide. The sixth-generation iRobot Roomba 700 Series includes the same state-of-the-art features that Roomba users have come to know and introduces new innovations that make the robot more effective and easier to use. The newest Roomba robots include an updated and improved three-part cleaning system along with several new features and upgrades:

• Advanced cleaning head improves overall cleaning from previous models, including 20 percent better pickup of fine particulates.

• New AeroVacâ„¢ Series 2 bin with a powerful vacuum maximizes air flow through Roomba’s cleaning head to pull more hair and debris off the brushes and into the bin.

• Two HEPA-type air filters keep fine household dust from re-circulating in your home.

• Dirt Detect Series 2 (available on Roomba 770 and 780) uses an acoustic sensor to detect excessive amounts of small and hard debris, such as sand, and an optical sensor to detect larger and soft debris, such as popcorn. Dirt Detect Series 1, which uses the acoustic sensor, is available on the Roomba 760.

• With a Persistent Pass Cleaning Pattern, Roomba uses a brush-like, back-and-forth motion to focus its cleaning when it finds an excessively dirty area.

• New power management software results in 50 percent longer battery life than previous Roomba generations, ensuring hundreds of cleaning cycles with proper use.

• Soft-touch bumper with a new polymer coating protects walls and furniture.

• Full Bin Indicator light turns on when Roomba detects a full dust bin (available on Roomba 770 and 780).

• Touchpad interface provides state-of-the-art control using just your fingertips and eliminates buttons (available on Roomba 780).

Scooba 230 plus Essentials Kit and Roomba 700 Series will be available in spring 2011 at www.irobot.com.

Dyson Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Continuing my search for the best robot vacuum cleaner: I don’t know about anybody else, but I feel like the world may or may not be waiting for the Dyson robot vacuum cleaner (a.k.a. the Dyson DC06). Maybe it was vaporware? Maybe it was set to compete with the iRobot Roomba? According to the sources I can find, it was supposed to feature more than 70 sensors. Controlling the robot and vacuum cleaning were three computers. The computers are programmed to learn the layout of any room and then calculate how to vacuum it without missing a single spot.

Dyson DC60 Robot Vacuum CleanerWhile it is vacuuming, the robot was supposed to make ten calculations a second. Like Rumbas, it would find its charger automatically and charge itself when it had completed sweeping a room. Strangely, Dyson programmed the DC06 to have moods and display them with colored lights on its display. Blue means “I am happy.” Green means “I am finding my way around an obstacle.” Red means “I am feeling threatened by my environment.”

You might be scratching your head over what could make a robot vacuum cleaner feel threatened and I am joining you. Maybe if it gets stuck? Maybe it’s like a pinball machine and has a tilt sensor? On the plus side, it’s got the Dyson vacum cleaner tech, which is dubbed “dual-cyclone technology” and makes for vacuums which need no bag.

Fortunately for us, there are other bagless vacuum cleaners, because the expected price tag on the Dyson DC60 is expected to be a whopping $6000. The name DC60 tickles me. It makes the thing sound like an airplane instead of a vacuum cleaner. I wonder if all the Dyson products have similar names. Me, I’ll stick to my much more affordable iRobot Roomba 500 Series thank you very much!

Samsung Tango Robot Vacuum Cleaner Announced

Samsung Tango Robot VacuumSamsung has announced a new robot vacuum cleaner, which obviously will compete with the iRobot Roomba. The robot comes with up to 39 sensors to interact with its environment. There is an added feature called I-Moderators, which I’m having trouble understanding from the description, but would appear to be much like the virtual walls or lighthouses.

Like the Sumsung Furot robot vacuum cleaner, the Tango has cameras, which the press release says helps the robot map the room and also to get the room clean. The cameras refresh 30 times per second. The Tango also comes with “crash sensors” to help prevent collisions.

Looks like it comes with a remote. And is for foot lovers.