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Google and iRobot team up to better map your home
Your Roomba's home mapping could be useful for more than more effective cleaning. Google and iRobot have formed a partnership to improve smart home technology using consumer robots. The two will find "additional ways" to link their platforms beyond Google Assistant control, including the possibility of using a Roomba's map-based spatial awareness to "simplify home setup" and foster "powerful new automations."
The Roomba i7+ is the robot vacuum I’ve been waiting for
Adulting is hard. But over the past 12 years, iRobot's Roomba made it just a bit easier for me by keeping my floors clean, no matter how lazy I felt. But while the company has steadily improved its robot vacuums over the years -- by making them more powerful, adding sturdy rubber rollers and integrating room mapping -- they're still very similar to the first model that debuted in 2002. That's why the $949 Roomba i7+ is such a huge deal: It can not only vacuum your floors better than before but also empty its dust bin into a Clean Base. It's the epitome of lazy cleaning technology: something that can do its dirty work without making you leave your couch.
There’s finally a Roomba that can empty itself
Since 2002, iRobot's Roomba has been something of a status symbol: a robot vacuum that can clean your floors while you sit back and relax. It's steadily become better and more efficient at cleaning since it debuted -- the last flagship model, the Roomba 980, added floor mapping three years ago. But once your Roomba finishes up, you still have to unload the dustbin manually. It's a stark reminder that we haven't reached the automated cleaning utopia of The Jetsons. That changes with the $949 Roomba i7+ -- it's smarter than ever before, and it can unload up to 30 dirty bins on its own without any help. Rosie the Robot, here we come.
The best robot vacuums
By Liam McCabe This post was done in partnership with Wirecutter. When readers choose to buy Wirecutter's independently chosen editorial picks, it may earn affiliate commissions that support its work. Read the original article here. After running more than 90 cleaning cycles with 14 of the most promising robot vacuums in 2017, we think the EcoVacs Deebot N79 is the best choice for most people who want a basic, affordable bot that can actually keep their floors tidy. The Deebot N79 is nimble enough to navigate most homes without getting stuck often—and that's what really makes most bot owners happy. Its battery life is the longest we've seen, it runs the quietest, and it has one of the better control schemes we've seen for the price—including Wi-Fi and a smartphone app. It works best on short carpet and bare floors, in areas smaller than 1,200 square feet, with only modest amounts of pet hair—limitations that stronger, smarter, pricier bots don't have. But the Deebot N79 is the best of the affordable robot vacuums, and if you run it at least a few times per week, it can keep your floors free of obvious debris with very little effort on your part. EcoVacs also makes a newer, more-expensive version of this robot called the Deebot N79S. It's basically the same as the old one, but it works with Alexa voice commands and has an option where you can boost the suction. That feature reduces the battery run time, though, and we found that as a result of that trade-off, it picks up a similar amount of debris per session. We'd spend our own money on the older Deebot N79, in the interest of saving a few dollars. But the newer Deebot N79S does work well, if you think the voice-command functionality is worth paying extra.
High-end Roombas will find your home's WiFi dead spots
That fancy new Roomba you got over the holidays could help suss out your home's WiFi weak spots this month. A forthcoming patch will add a wireless coverage map to the Roomba's vacuum heat map. From the sounds of it, the test group for this new feature could be relatively tiny.
iRobot and Black & Decker settle over alleged patent infringement
iRobot, maker of the Roomba vacuum, has taken to challenging its competitors over alleged patent violations in an effort to hold on to its market share. In April, it named a number of companies including Black & Decker, Bissell, iLife and Hoover in a complaint filed to the US International Trade Commission wherein it asked the commission to investigate their supposed patent violations and ban any products that it finds to incorporate any infringed upon intellectual property. Now, however, iRobot says it has reached an agreement with Black & Decker.
Roomba robotic vacuums now follow IFTTT instructions
If Roomba vacuums are going to feel like they're truly part of your connected home, they need to do more than dutifully clean your floors on a set schedule. Thankfully, iRobot is helping them do just that. It just added IFTTT "recipes" that tell Roomba robots when to clean or to interact with other devices. You can tell your robovac to start cleaning when you leave or stop when you get home, for starters. However, the cleverest tricks come when the robot interacts with the outside world. You can tweet to your Roomba to start a command, or have it post to Facebook or Twitter when it's done. You can even have it flash your Hue lights or play music (on Android devices) when it's finished, in case there's something you need to do immediately afterwards.
You can trust your Roomba with your home's dirty secrets
Earlier this week, iRobot and its CEO Colin Angle came under a bit of fire after Reuters reported that the company was looking to sell maps of customers' homes to companies like Amazon, Apple or Alphabet. The idea behind such a move was that maps of consumers' homes could help inform other smart devices, like lighting and thermostats, about the physical environment they're in. "There's an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared," Angle told Reuters.
Softbank’s robot army grows with a stake in Roomba's owner
Softbank may be best known as one of Japan's top phone carriers, but their recent behind-the-scenes investments make it clear they want something more. Bloomberg Technology reports that the Japanese company has invested in iRobot, the manufacturer of the robot vacuum Roomba, with a stake of less than 5 percent. iRobot recently reported strong second-quarter results.
iRobot's entry-level Roombas offer app control on the cheap
iRobot is bringing Wi-Fi connectivity to its cheaper Roomba vacuum cleaning robots. The company is unveiling two new models today, the 690 and 890, which sit below its top-of-the-line 960 and 980 machines. Unlike the 650 and 860 -- its previous low-end robots -- they can be controlled through the iRobot Home app. That means you customise their cleaning schedule, check their "cleaning status" and access customer support from any Android or iOS device. The Roomba 690 goes on sale today for $375 in the US -- the same price as the 650 it's replacing. The Roomba 890, meanwhile, will be out in "late Q2" for a yet-to-be-confirmed price.
iRobot starts a patent war over robot vacuums (update: ITC case)
It's getting nasty in the robot vacuum arena. iRobot has filed lawsuits against Bissell, Black & Decker, Bobsweep, iLife and Hoover for allegedly violating several patents for the concept of an autonomous room-cleaning robot. The company "will not stand by" as rivals "infringe on our intellectual property" by making similar competing machines, according to a statement. We've reached out to the companies targeted by the lawsuits and will let you know how they're responding, although it's safe to say they aren't likely to roll over.
Now Roombas check in with 'Clean Map' reports to your phone
How do you know if your Roomba has cleaned every inch of your floor? If you have one of the wirelessly connected series 900 Roombas, you'll start getting "Clean Map" reports through the iRobot Home app for Android and iOS. The machines now map the parts of your home they've cleaned by combining adaptive navigation with visual localization. You'll get those maps as part of the new reports, along with how much time the Roomba spent vacuuming and what the dirtiest parts of your house are. The app can now also send you push notifications on the robot's cleaning status.
Researchers are building a robotic Lionfish exterminator
We joke around a lot about bringing about a horrific robot apocalypse, but let's get real: sometimes, building a killer robot is just the right thing to do. Well, at least when those robots are being used to cull invasive species. Researchers at Robots In Service of the Environment (RISE) are developing a robot to fight an invasive population of Lionfish that's threatening ecosystems off the coast of Florida as well as in the Caribbean and Bermuda.
The Roomba 960 is iRobot's cheaper app-driven robot vacuum
The $900 WiFi-connected Roomba 980 is pretty exorbitant for many folks, nice as it is, so Robot has launched the $700 Roomba 960. The new model has a less powerful motor and battery, but retains the WiFi connectivity, floor mapping and app control of the high-end model. The price is the same as Neato's BotVac Connected, so it could sway techy users who really want the extra control a smartphone brings. By contrast, the cheapest, non-connected Roomba 650 is $375.
Next for iRobot: A cute $199 kitchen and bathroom mop bot
After tackling ever-complex vacuuming, sweeping and mopping bots for most of your house, iRobot took a surprising turn for its latest product: it went small and cheap. The company's new $199 Braava Jet is a tiny thing meant to clean all of the nooks and crannies of your kitchen and bathroom. It's basically a miniaturized version of the company's Braava floor mopping robot (which itself is based on technology it acquired from Evolution Robotics, which used to make the Mint floor sweeping robot.) Given its price and tiny size, the Braava Jet could open up the dream of automated home cleaning to consumers who'd scoff at the pricy entry point for Roombas (which is around $300 for an outdated model these days).
ICYMI: Robot news round-up, 3D hand scanner and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: iRobot sold its line of military robots to a US-based firm to focus on Roomba and a new chameleon robot changes color to blend in; a student built a 3D scanner with cameras and Raspberry Pi that is much cheaper than any other scanner; and a new pedestrian detection software from the University of California, San Diego, is nearly as fast as the human brain.
iRobot is selling off its military division
The US military might seem like an endless cash train for contractors, but it's not always so. Vacuum bot maker iRobot has sold off its defense and security division in order to focus on its core Roomba business. If you were unaware that iRobot even made military toys, the company actually got its start building military hardware for the likes of DARPA as far back as 1998. At one point, it was awarded a $286 million military contract to produce robots that can detect and disarm bombs and do other risky chores.
Roomba 980 review: iRobot's best vacuum yet, but too pricey for most
It's 2015 and I'm still waiting for Rosie the Robot, or some sort of equivalent home bot, to clean my home. We're probably years away from a Jetsons-like future, but it's easy to forget that iRobot's Roomba has already been around for over 13 years now, steadily getting better at doing your dirty work. Now with the new Roomba 980, iRobot is making its vacuum-cleaning bot smarter than ever before -- so much so that it's calling the 980 the most important Roomba since it first debuted in 2002. It has a camera and advanced localization technology that allows it to see obstacles and map your floors, and for the first time, it's also wirelessly connected and works together with a mobile app. Most importantly, it finally rid my carpets of cat hair. The 980 is the best Roomba yet, plain and simple. Unfortunately, its high cost of $900 puts it out of reach for most people.
Hands-on with the smarter, WiFi-equipped Roomba 980
By iRobot's own admission, the Roomba 980 is its most important consumer product since the launch of its first vacuum bot in 2002. It builds upon the innovative brush-less design of the Roomba 880, but adds a whole load of new gear to make it a better robot. It can actually map your floors and make sure it thoroughly cleans your entire house. And it also marks iRobot's entry into the smart home arena -- the Roomba 980 works with the company's new "HOME" app, which allows you to control and monitor it from anywhere in the world. But like every new Roomba, it's pretty pricy at $899. Is it worth it?
iRobot's cloud-connected Roomba 980 is smart enough to map floors
Two years ago, iRobot got rid of bristles with the Roomba 880. Now, the company is making its iconic vacuum cleaning robot even smarter with the Roomba 980, which it claims is the first Roomba to "combine adaptive navigation with visual localization." Translation? It's a heckuva lot smarter than past Roomba's, so much so that it can map and clean an entire floor on its own. That's something iRobot CTO Paolo Pirjanian hinted at when we spoke to him at CES -- he was far more intrigued by bots that could understand and interact with your home more than drones. The 980 is also the first Roomba that's connected to the cloud, allowing you to control it from iRobot's new "HOME" app. That lets you kick off Roomba cleanings from anywhere, as well as manage your vacuum bot's schedule. The Roomba 980 hits the US and Canada for $899 starting on September 17.
