iRobot has just launched two new cleaning robots. You may already be familiar with the Roomba family of vacuum robots which is getting a new addition with the Roomba 650, Roomba 630 and Roomba 620. With this new series 600, iRobot has improved the waste bin efficiency so that users don’t have to empty it as often. At the same time, the company has added an acoustic sensor to detect areas that are more dirty so the 600 Series can spend more time on them. This version is an incremental improvement and will replace the 500 Series.
I actually think that the Scooba robot is more interesting. That’s the one that mops the floor with water, soap and all. When we tested it, the result was pretty good. The only serious downside was the noise level. That’s why iRobot made it possible for the robot to clean when you’re not home.
The Looj is less popular, but more interesting in my opinion: if you haven’t seen it before, it is a robot that cleans your gutters from all the accumulated mess, which means that you don’t have to go around the house on a ladder or on the roof. The previous model had difficulties with smaller gutters, so iRobot came up with a low-profile that should do better. Typically, people clean their gutters twice a year.
