[chbot] Robotic Sweepers

[Helmut Walle]

On 26/06/13 09:20, Hanno Sander wrote:
> I demoed my Neato VX11 robot vacuum at a meeting several months ago.
> The Neato uses a laser to accurately map its surroundings and then 
> slowly vacuums each area of carpet exactly once.  I (and more 
> importantly, my wife) are extremely happy with it's performance in a 
> house with 2 kids and a shedding dog.  I bought it for $240 US to 
> integrate into my visual programming language 12Blocks, now my wife 
> won't let me touch it.
>
> Comparing the power requirements between two very different usages 
> doesn't tell you much.  I suggest that it takes exponentially less 
> power to vacuum at a slower speed.
>
> I also imagine that vacuums aren't designed to be efficient- given 
> that they're heavily marketed by how much power they use (waste).
> When was the last time you bought a vacuum that was advertised with a 
> lower Watt rating than the competitor?
> Hanno
>
[...]

Interesting, Hanno! And good to hear the Neato works for you! Yes, there 
appear to be big differences between models / manufacturers - that was 
my reason for mentioning the Karcher Robocleaner vs. the Dirt Devil: two 
quite differently targeted (and respectively priced machines). It looks 
like the Neato is a lot more capable than the Dirt Devil, too, and 
again, it costs significantly more as well. That appears to be the one 
certainty here: there is no free lunch to be had in the domain of 
cleaning robots. Also seeing that you expect this kind of product to 
last for years, I dare say that there may just be some connection 
between longevity / quality and price. (Always keeping in mind that 
while rock-bottom low prices can be a guarantee of lack of quality in 
some markets, a much higher price by no means is a guarantee of good 
quality...)

Regarding the vacuums' suction efficiency: I am not an expert on this in 
any way, but there probably are some conflicting requirements, e.g., if 
you want a long flexible hose connecting the machine to the cleaning 
head, then both the length and the flexibility of the hose eat up a lot 
of your suction power. As you are pointing out, what matters for the 
cleaning is the suction at the head, and this is actually specified by 
Nilfisk.

And yes, from my experience there are some interesting non-linearities 
around vacuum cleaning. For example, the hair from these wigs sometimes 
got engaged with the carpet fibres so closely that any number of slow 
passes with the strongest vacuum cleaners would not get it out of the 
carpet, however simple brushing with a firm bristle brush would easily 
"comb" the hair out of the carpet. Sometimes it's technique, not power 
or duration. And that also is my main criticism of the Dirt Devil: it is 
meant to be a hard floor cleaner, but can it wipe the floor wet? If it 
can't it's never going to be as good as something that can, because you 
simply cannot brush and suck spilled coffee off the tiles... And then 
there are machines that can wipe the floor autonomously, possibly there 
even is a model made by Dirt Devil...

Kind regards,

Helmut.