Dyson's first robot vacuum promises more suction than the competition
Sixteen years and nearly $47 million in the making, Dyson's unveiled its first robot vacuum cleaner: the 360 Eye. The company says it's packing more cleaning power than any other robot vacuum currently on the market, but you'll have probably noted that such improvements has also made it a fair bit taller than incumbents like iRobot's Roomba. The WiFi-connected vacuum will arrive alongside a smartphone app that'll allow you to schedule sessions for when you're not at home yourself: it'll clean up your mess for up to 20 minutes before returning (autonomously, of course) to charge. Being Dyson, though, it's all about the engineering decisions made inside -- and they look something like this.
Dyson's reckons its new robot challenger solves some of the major issues that hamper robot vacuums: the 360 eye uses cyclone technology alongside its own energy-efficient motor which can apparently separate dust and dirt -- meaning it can suck up unwanted particles as small as 0.5 microns. It's namesake, the 'eye' is made up of a collection of infrared sensors and a panoramic lens with a 360-degree camera that apparently "sees" your house in its entirety and plans its cleaning route accordingly and efficiently. It updates where it's been and can even triangulate where it is at any point, hopefully ensuring that it'll get back to the recharging dock when it's done.
Along the base, a nylon and carbon-fiber brush bar runs across the entire machine, and Dyson reckons this does a good enough job (alongside all that suction power), to sidestep the need for any side-sweepers along the edges. Oh yeah, it's also got army-styled caterpillar treads that the vacuum maker reckons will ensure it maintains its speed across all surfaces and small obstacles: like, say, rugs. Rather than hash the keys on the robot itself, the aforementioned smartphone app (iOS and Android), can be used to tweak settings and cleaning schedules.
Sir James Dyson calls it "high performing robot vacuum - a genuine labor-saving device" and it goes on sale first in Japan in Spring of next year -- which is probably why Sir Dyson is launching the robot in the middle of Tokyo. The rest of the world can expect to see it later in 2015. No word on pricing, but we're predicting a suitably Dyson-like figure. Your move, iRobot.
