You want a vacuum because you want the tedious chore of vacuuming gone or perhaps you want to spend more time with others and less with a vacuum.
The high-tech, smart robotic vacuums are more expensive than conventional vacuums, but consider the cost an investment. Here’s why:
Do They Work?
People are hesitant to try out robotic vacuums because they are unsure if they really work. The vacuums are useful and do their job, but you have to do your part. Use them as intended, not just when the dirt is beyond tolerable levels. Run it at least a few times a week.
Robot vacuums have evolved from the mindless furniture killers they once were. They connect with the internet now, so that you can control them with smart apps or digital assistants like Alexa and Google Home.
When vacuums first became connected, people didn’t see the benefit. Why would you connect a vacuum with the internet?
The advantages have come to light. Some smart vacuums have onboard cameras, and do double duty as security cameras. The improvement of smartphone apps has led to features like virtual maps to help track cleaning, create barriers and provide useful information.
The Vacuum “Sees” Through Sensors
In order to clean a room, a vacuum needs to be able to move through the room freely, while steering clear of any obstacles. It uses sensors to detect obstacles, to measure how far it has travelled and to find new areas to cover.
The sensors trigger programmed behaviours and the vacuum responds. This sensor navigation used to be how all vacuums worked. Now, the high-tech robot vacuums have self-navigation systems that employ mapping technology.
Mapping Technology Means a Cleaner House
There are two different methods of mapping that vacuums use. One method uses an onboard digital camera to take pictures of the environment – walls, ceilings, doorways, furniture and other landmarks.
The other uses a laser range finder, which is also called Light Detection and Ranging that measures the distance to objects that are in the way of the vacuum. The vacuum then uses the data it collects to build a map of the room, incorporating information that its other sensors have gathered.
Once a vacuum has a mapped floor plan, it can devise the most efficient route to use to clean the room. It can also determine how much it has cleaned and how much it still needs to do.
This is important because the vacuum actually knows when its battery is low and if it is part way through a job, it can return to its dock to recharge and return to where it left off! This leads to a more thorough and even cleaning.
True, no vacuum is perfect and it may be fooled by floor length mirrors into thinking the room is larger than it is, for example, but the problems are solvable and it will clean your house well without you having to direct it, giving you freedom.
