[ad_1]
iRobot has not changed the basic formula of its Roomba robot vacuum cleaner since its launch in 2002, but each new generation brings small improvements that make it easier to use robots. The newest Roomba i7 +, unveiled today, has two major changes: the robot now remembers your home's floor plan and empties itself.
The automatic dump function is probably the most useful. The i7 + does not throw dust in your garbage after every cleaning; instead, he uses a hopper attached to his charging station as an intermediate. Whenever it returns to the base, the dirt in the robot is sucked into the hopper, which stores up to 30 containers.
Other robot vacuums have offered this option for years, but it's good to see that iRobot also presents it. The company says the bin is large enough that you only have to empty it every two weeks. Hope his vacuum system is not obstructed.
The i7 + also supports the room mapping feature introduced with the Roomba 900 series. This follows the layout of your home to help the robot cover the floor as effectively as possible, creating a basic map of the room. each piece using a combination of odometry (measuring how well Roomba's wheels turned) and a low-resolution camera recognizes the light and dark patterns created by the furniture and walls.
However, while 900 Series robots remove these cards after each cleanup, the i7 + stores them to allow users to customize cleanup programs. Using the Roomba app, users can divide the floor plan of their home into different rooms, then name them and specify how often they should be cleaned. And if they have an Alexa device or Google Assistant, they can use it to ask their Roomba to clean specific parts with voice commands, saying, for example, "Hey Google, clean up the living room" .
It is understandable that some customers do not feel comfortable with the fact that their vacuum cleaner stores a map of their home. And, in fact, a copy of the card goes into the cloud via your home Wi-Fi, although the images taken by the low-resolution camera remain on the Roomba itself.
iRobot is aware of these concerns and asserts that securing this information is a top priority and that the data may also have other uses. Talk to The edge Earlier this year, iRobot's CEO, Colin Angle, said that your plan could, in the future, be shared with other devices in your home, allowing you for example to control your IoT lighting per room. Angle pointed out that this type of data sharing would only happen with the permission of the users and that the map data would never be sold to third parties.
And for customers who do not like the idea of having their home mapped, iRobot also launches a cheaper Roomba, the e5. This feature does not have any of the i7 +'s Auto Dump or Room Mapping features, but can still be controlled by a Wi-Fi or Digital Assistant. The i7 + and e5 both have new rubber brushes designed to work on carpets and hard floors, which, according to iRobot, is much less common than bristle brushes.
As always with Roombas, the price will be a problem for many, especially considering that robot vacuums can not reach all areas of your home and that you will definitely need another Hoover.
The Roomba i7 + and the base station cost $ 949, with bags for the hopper priced at $ 14.99. The i7 + costs $ 699 and the base can be purchased separately for $ 299. The Roomba e5, meanwhile, will cost $ 449. In both cases, the price to pay for convenience is high, but it is worth it for some.
The iRobot Roomba i7 + will go on sale on "select international markets" in the first quarter of 2019, while the e5 will be available on irobot.com in the United States and Canada starting next Tuesday.
Source link
