Robot Features

iRobot Roomba 400 Features

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iRobot’s Roomba 400 Series is the entry-level vacuum cleaning robot. While this unit is their most basic, and lacks some of the more advanced features of the newer robots, the 400 Series is still great at cleaning your floors. Here’s a list of the included features of the Roomba 400 vacuum:

  • Covered by a One Year Warranty
  • Battery Charger
  • Rechargeable Battery
  • Cleaning Tool
  • Vacuuming Debris Bin
  • Owner’s Guide and Documentation

iRobot Roomba 400The Roombas are designed to handle that most boring of household chores, sweeping your floors. All you have to do is carry the robot to the middle of your room and press the “clean” button in the center of the top of the robot. These vacuum cleaners automatically adjust their height to any floor surface, be it rugs, tile, carpeting, linoleum, or wood flooring. This assures that your floors get as clean as possible. Roombas are designed to figure out how large a room is and then adjust their vacuuming time to make sure that it covers the entire floor. Also built into the iRobot vacuums are sensors to keep the robot from falling down stairs and to sense when it bumps into things. This way it can safely navigate around your room and vacuum.

All of the iRobot Roomba vacuums use a three-stage cleaning system. A spinning brush on the left hand side of the vacuum scoops dirt and debris from hard to reach places like overhangs and corners. On the bottom of the vacuum are counter-rotating brushes that grab larger bits of debris, hair, pieces of grass or leaves, and of course dirt. Finally, the robot has a vacuum to suck up smaller pieces of dirt and dust.

Features of the iRobot Roomba 400

(Click here to see a page explaining all the iRobot vacuum cleaner features.)

  • Customer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
  • Warranty: 1 year
  • Charging Time: 7 Hours
  • Detects Dirt: No
  • Spot Mode: No
  • Max Mode: No
  • Self-Charging Home Base Compatible: Yes
  • On-Board Scheduling: No
  • Voice Demonstration: No
  • Light-Touch Bumpers: No
  • Advanced Anti-Tangle Technology: No
  • Improved Edge and Corner Cleaning: No
  • Room-to-Room Navigation: No
  • High Capacity Bin: No
  • Easier Maintenance: No
  • Wireless Control: No
  • Lighthouse Technology: No
  • Virtual Walls Included: 0
  • Lighthouses Included: 0
  • Wireless Command Center Included: No
  • Extra Brushes: No
  • Carrying Case: No
  • Extra Filters Included: No
  • Bonus Accessory Kit: No

Shop for Roombas on Amazon

Robot Models

Dyson Robot Vacuum Cleaner

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Continuing my search for the best robot vacuum cleaner: I don’t know about anybody else, but I feel like the world may or may not be waiting for the Dyson robot vacuum cleaner (a.k.a. the Dyson DC06). Maybe it was vaporware? Maybe it was set to compete with the iRobot Roomba? According to the sources I can find, it was supposed to feature more than 70 sensors. Controlling the robot and vacuum cleaning were three computers. The computers are programmed to learn the layout of any room and then calculate how to vacuum it without missing a single spot.

Dyson DC60 Robot Vacuum CleanerWhile it is vacuuming, the robot was supposed to make ten calculations a second. Like Rumbas, it would find its charger automatically and charge itself when it had completed sweeping a room. Strangely, Dyson programmed the DC06 to have moods and display them with colored lights on its display. Blue means “I am happy.” Green means “I am finding my way around an obstacle.” Red means “I am feeling threatened by my environment.”

You might be scratching your head over what could make a robot vacuum cleaner feel threatened and I am joining you. Maybe if it gets stuck? Maybe it’s like a pinball machine and has a tilt sensor? On the plus side, it’s got the Dyson vacum cleaner tech, which is dubbed “dual-cyclone technology” and makes for vacuums which need no bag.

Fortunately for us, there are other bagless vacuum cleaners, because the expected price tag on the Dyson DC60 is expected to be a whopping $6000. The name DC60 tickles me. It makes the thing sound like an airplane instead of a vacuum cleaner. I wonder if all the Dyson products have similar names. Me, I’ll stick to my much more affordable iRobot Roomba 500 Series thank you very much!

Robot Models

Samsung Tango Robot Vacuum Cleaner Announced

Samsung Tango Robot VacuumSamsung has announced a new robot vacuum cleaner, which obviously will compete with the iRobot Roomba. The robot comes with up to 39 sensors to interact with its environment. There is an added feature called I-Moderators, which I’m having trouble understanding from the description, but would appear to be much like the virtual walls or lighthouses.

Like the Sumsung Furot robot vacuum cleaner, the Tango has cameras, which the press release says helps the robot map the room and also to get the room clean. The cameras refresh 30 times per second. The Tango also comes with “crash sensors” to help prevent collisions.

Looks like it comes with a remote. And is for foot lovers.