It does not matter if you are a cleanliness freak, or someone who fusses every time they have to get about cleaning their apartment – a vacuum cleaner is something almost everyone owns and needs. From being considered as a luxury, they have gone to be an absolute necessity, and as a result, come in all shapes and sizes now. Not just that, owing to the surging demands for this product and increased usage, there have been several notable developments in the area courtesy of which we have seen better and more efficient cleaners as time passed. However, none of those inventions can beat the fairly recent smart robotic vacuums which eliminate the need for any human involvement completely.
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What are they?
Smart robotic vacuum cleaners are essentially programmed autonomous vacuum cleaners that can detect and clean your floors with the help of an array of different kinds of sensors and brushes, and without yours. Not just that, they also look extremely futuristic and straight out of a science fiction movie.
The first designs of these were mostly major fails as they failed to react to the real-world stimuli, and were too expensive for most people to afford. Being autonomous at the best, or remote-controlled using applications at the very least they definitely have come a long way, and are proving to be a massive hit in the global markets of late. One of the things going in the favor of this product is just how easy it makes the whole drudgery of physical vacuum cleaning your houses – you push a few buttons from your phone and you’re good to go!
How do they work?
Robot vacuums usually consist of a combination of spinning and rolling brushes to aggregate the dirt before sucking it in, working along with a host of sensors, motors, and highly programmed on-board circuitry.
The sensors which are commonly fitted include obstacle sensors – to sense barriers and alter movement patterns, wall sensors – to know about the boundaries of the room, and depth sensors – to prevent the cleaner from falling off stairs or heights. You could think of these as the cleaner’s sensory organs, using which they can perceive the outer world. The cleaners move through your house and when they ‘see’ any dirt, they respond accordingly and suck all the debris in.
One other very fascinating feature is mapping which can be seen in the higher-end models. Using laser beams or cameras on board, the vacuum maps the entire apartment into its memory which helps it to identify the best movement patterns and optimize the output. To be honest, the maximum you effort you would have to put in is when you empty the cleaner’s storage of all the dirt. Nowadays, most basic smart cleaners also come with a schedule option which lets you schedule when you want your cleaner to get to work, even when you are not home!
Limitations
Even though this product line has gone through a ton of improvements from when it was just a concept, there is a lot of things that it still cannot do and if you are an absolute Monica who loves to clean every nook and corner of your place, might not be a good fit for you. A few limitations are as follows:
- They do not have enough power and mobility when compared to the classical vacuum cleaners because no matter how flawless the algorithm runs, the ability to better find dirt and debris than a human being manually doing it is not something they can practically achieve yet.
- Unlike the older cleaners, the robotic vacuums have a battery that needs to be charged before they can be operated.
- The extremely limited storage size of the waste bin inside the robotic cleaner owing to its smaller form factor also leads to the user having to empty it often, which is also not a good thing because it adds negatively to the whole hassle-free experience.
- Identifying obstacles is another major con when it comes to automated vacuum cleaners because the programming and sensors might be successful in preventing them from falling off stairs and bumping into walls, the technology to not go over smaller obstacles like wires are simply not accessible to the people at reasonable prices.
Even though these limitations do make the product look more like a gimmick and a novelty to someone who wants a spotless home, these are definitely useful for people who find it loathsome to get off their sofas and clean.
Best you can buy
1) iRobot Roomba
Globally, the first commercially successful robotic vacuum cleaner was developed by iRobot, called the Roomba in the early 2000s. Almost two decades from then, iRobot has maintained the lead in this segment by coming up with newer and better versions of the Roomba. Presently, they are available in three categories –
- The i-series, the premium range which starts at a whopping ₹69,900.
- The 900 series – the mid-rangers, which start at ₹49,900.
- The most affordable of the lot, the 600 series, starts at ₹26,900.
The Roomba vacuums come loaded with all sorts of features that one can expect from smart cleaners like Wi-Fi connectivity, virtual mapping, and edge cleaning. However, how many of those premium features you get would depend on how much you actually spend on it.
Buy Now | Amazon
2) Ecovacs Deebot
Another brand which makes highly useful and recommended smart vacuum cleaners is Ecovacs who call their product Deebots. Two of the best vacuums within this product line are the Deebot N79S and the Ozmo series, especially the Ozmo 950.
- Deebot N79S – This cleaner comes with versatile cleaning modes, smart app control, automatic charging, a larger dustbin, and compatibility for Alexa and Google Assistant and is a very good purchase for overall cleaning. Not just that, starting at ₹39,999 on Amazon, it is fairly less expensive and provides good value for money as well.
Buy Now | Amazon
- Ozmo 950 – This cleaner is available for ₹44,900 on Amazon at present and offers a ton of features for the price. It is a two-in-one vacuum plus mop combo which also packs laser navigation and multi-floor mapping technologies along with multiple suction modes and a battery that lasts up to 3 hours.
Buy Now | Amazon
3) 360 S6 and S7 Smart Vacuums
The next additions to this list are the S6 and S7 vacuums of a brand called 360.
- 360 S6 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner – Starting at ₹29,999, this cleaner comes with a host of features for its price. It provides for wet mopping, app control, and intelligent navigation. It comes with a HEPA filter for animal hair an array of highly useful sensors and high suction power of 1800Pa.
Buy Now | Amazon
- 360 S7 Laser Navigation Robot Vacuum Cleaner – This smart cleaner is available at Amazon for ₹37,990, and also offers a good value for the money. It comes loaded with laser navigation, smart route planning, multiple map-management, and app control, a ton of sensors, a smart water tank, and auto-recharge features along with a very high suction limit of 2000Pa.
Buy Now | Amazon
4) EUFY Robovacs
Next on this list of smart cleaners are the RoboVacs by Eufy. More or less belonging to the affordable, attractive, and easy to operate segment of vacuums, these might be the best budget buys on this list. Models like the RoboVac 11S start at ₹19,999 and offer some of the premium features as well which make them extremely smart purchases.
Another very popular product in the RoboVac family is the G30, which may not be available in India but is also a really good buy for its price and gets the job done!
5) Milagrow Seagull
This smart vacuum boasts of being India’s thinnest floor robotic cleaner with wet mops, scheduling, mapping, and automatic self-charging features. It comes with a gyro-mapping technology that lets the cleaner determine its movement based on the effect of the earth’s gravity on it. Starting at a comparatively cheaper ₹19,990, this vacuum cleaner is one of the best value-for-money purchases. You can check this product out on Amazon from this link.
Buy Now | Amazon
Conclusion
The robot vacuum cleaners might still be too posh for a majority of people to invest huge sums of money in right now but come the future, these definitely look like the products which would replace the traditional and noisy vacuums. However, there is still a lot of
advancements to be made, and costs to be cut for that to happen and even if you cannot afford one of these right now, you are not losing out on much as long as you get up and do your cleaning!
All the positives said and the criticism done, these are really useful as well, especially for people who have busy schedules and cannot afford to spend time on vacuuming their homes regularly to keep the dirt out or for people who are just plain lazy and have the finances to spend on them.
FAQs
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