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Robot Features, Uncategorized

iRobot Roomba 530 Features

iRobot Roomba 530 vacuum cleanerThe 500 Series Roombas feature technologies that aren’t available in the 400 series. They run longer on a battery charge, and are compatible with some of the more advanced accessories. The counter-rotating brushes, which pick up larger debris, run faster and have an improved design. The robot comes with better filters that stop more dust and allergens. iRobot made improvements to the spinning side brush so that it gets into corners better. The larger dust bin allows for more use between emptying. Technology for keeping the Roomba from getting tangles on cables, carpet fringe, and rug tassels as been improved upon. The iRobot Roomba 530 comes with a self-charging base and two virtual walls. The difference between the 530 and the 532 Pet Series is the 530 doesn’t come with: Extra High Capacity Sweeper Bin, Extra Brushes and Filters, and Extra Cleaning Tool.

What comes in the box:

  • The Roomba 530
  • 2 Compact Virtual Walls
  • Home Base for Self-Charging
  • Extra Filter
  • Rechargeable Battery
  • Three Hour Charging Power Supply
  • 1 Year Warranty

As with all Roomba robot vacuum cleaners, the 530 will sense cliffs and drop-offs so that it won’t fall down steps. This robot can detect areas with more dirt and will circle over them to clean the area more thoroughly. You can also use the “spot clean” feature, where you tell the robot to clean up a small area quickly. This is great for spills or spots that need more frequent cleaning. The Roomba robots use filters to capture dust, pollen, and other allergens in your home, and vacuum each floor completely, going under furniture where it can. The dust bin is bagless. Roombas use a multi-stage cleaning technology to vacuum floors. First, a spinning brush grabs debris and pulls it toward the vacuum intake. Counter-rotating bristle brushes “beat” the floor and grab larger particles of dirt. Next, a powerful vacuum sucks up finer particles. On carpet, the brushes will work deep into the fibers to get at pet hair and dirt under the surface.

  • Customer Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Warranty: 1 year
  • Charging Time: 3 Hours
  • Detects Dirt: Yes
  • Spot Mode: Yes
  • Max Mode: No
  • Self-Charging Home Base Compatible: Yes
  • On-Board Scheduling: No
  • Light-Touch Bumpers: Yes
  • Advanced Anti-Tangle Technology: Yes
  • Improved Edge and Corner Cleaning: Yes
  • Room-to-Room Navigation: No
  • High Capacity Bin: Optional
  • Wireless Control: No
  • Lighthouse Technology: No
  • Virtual Walls Included: 2
  • Lighthouses Included: 0
  • Wireless Command Center Included: No
  • Extra Brushes: No
  • Carrying Case: No
  • Extra Filters Included: 1
  • Bonus Accessory Kit: No
Uncategorized

Panasonic Fukitorimushi – Vaporware?

Fukitorimushi Panasonic Robot Vacuum

A couple months ago, the entire internet got really excited about something called the Panasonic Fukitorimushi floor-cleaning inchworm robot. A bunch of people declared it would be the end of the Roomba. The video and photos in this post are pretty much all that was released. Since then, there hasn’t been anything. I’m thinking it was a concept model. It all appeared to have started from the Tokyo Fiber Senseware 2009 Expo in Milan, Italy. Then a couple of sites picked up the news, and then before you know it, the internet decided this was a real robot vacuum.

Fukitorimushi Panasonic Robot Vacuum

The word Fukitorimushi translates to “wipe-up bug.” The robot itself was shown crawling around the room like an inchworm. To clean, the robot was covered in super-absorbent nanofiber cloth developed by Nanofront. The robot itself was designed by Panasonic. If you read the press release from the Expo site, it states that “Part of the robot’s behavior is simulated.” If you take a close look at the robot cleaners in the video below, you’ll notice that they are moving as if they are on wheels and that they aren’t really inching around like inchworms. Particularly the one in the corner looks stuck. Check it out.

There are a lot of extra details on Pink Tentacle, like for instance that the final robot would use a light to scan for dirty areas and would also auto-dock to its charger when its batteries run low (like the Roomba does).

Like many Japanese robots, the Fukitorimushi were also supposed to be more sort of “pet-like” than other robot vacuums. I guess I can see that, considering it looks sort of like a pillow inchworm, and the owner will also need to take care of it in certain ways (such as changing its cover every once in a while).

Fukitorimushi Panasonic Robot Vacuum

I say it’s going to end up being vaporware. Sorry everybody!