Robot vacuums make housework fun, insofar as they do it for you. They’re also cute, and zip around your home like a pet, but without the hair and unforeseen expenses.
This is clearly why the robot vacuum market is going to grow by $1.69 billion by 2020. (It might actually have more to do with improved functionality, intense vendor competition, and IoT expansion, but we think ‘adorableness’ is a valid driver as well.)
Robot Wars: iRobot, LG, Neato Robotics, and Samsung
Remember that time we said that vendor competition is a market driver? These are the guys we’re talking about. While the robot vacuum cleaner market consists of way more than four vendors, iRobot, LG, Neato and Samsung are giants in the industry.
iRobot
iRobot was Founded in 1990, and headquartered in Massachusetts, iRobot is the brains behind the seminal Roomba, as well as the Scooba, Braava and several other multi-voweled robot henchmen.
In their own words:
iRobot’s home robots are revolutionizing the way people clean – inside and out. More than 14 million home robots have been sold worldwide. The award-winning iRobot Roomba® Vacuum Cleaning Robot is leading the charge. Roomba made practical robots a reality for the first time and showed the world that robots are here to stay. iRobot’s acclaimed line of home robots also includes the iRobot Scooba® Floor Scrubbing Robot, the iRobot Braava™ Floor Mopping Robot, the iRobot Mirra™Pool Cleaning Robot and the iRobot Looj® Gutter Cleaning Robot.
LG Electronics
Established in 1958, LG is one of the granddaddies of the tech industry. The company, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and markets consumer electronics, mobile communications, and home appliances (including robotic vacuums!).
LG’s HOM-BOT robot vacuum cleaner features a square design and long side brushes to clean corners, wall edges, and small areas. It offers seven cleaning modes, including the zigzag mode, for large areas with few obstacles, and the smart turbo mode, which automatically adjusts to floor and carpet surfaces. The main brush loosens and sweeps dust and dirt, and the side brushes clean corners and edges.
Neato Robotics
One of the babies of the industry, Neato Robotics was founded in 2004, and makes Botvac D series robotic vacuum cleaners.
The robot uses Neato Botvision to navigate, which consists of a laser scanner and proprietary navigation software-based on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology. This system helps the robot scan the room continuously and make instant decisions based on the inputs from its sensors.
The Neato app, which is available for both Android and iOS devices, acts as a remote control that can start, stop, pause, schedule, and receive notifications from the robot. The robot automatically goes back to its charge base for a recharge and returns to where it had left off to complete the job.
Samsung Electronics
Samsung has become synonymous with tech, so naturally the company has extended its offerings to robot vacuums.
Its robot, called the Navibot, is equipped with 37 sensors to automatically detect the edge of stairs and other obstacles and has three anti-tangle sensors that automatically unwind any cord, carpet tassels, or pets it encounters. The Virtual Guard system included with the robot activates the virtual fence to prevent Navibot from entering prohibited areas. The machine uses a visionary mapping system to document the layout of the house and memorizes the best possible cleaning paths. It also features an onboard camera that captures images at 30 frames per second.
