ROBOTIC CLEANING: Reader Ray Heasman writes:

Hi Glenn,

I saw your comment about cleaning robots not being as advanced as you hoped. Well, I have owned a Neato XV-11 for a week now, and I have nothing but good things to say about it. It is a breakthrough in that Neato figured out how to build a cheap but effective rotating laser rangefinder (the DIY robotics folks out there are pretty excited about it), which allows them to build an affordable robot that can properly navigate complex floorplans.

The Neato does a great job of mapping your house and recognising where it is. I have owned a Roomba, and I was very disappointed with it; it’s basically a glorified clockwork toy that wanders around randomly. The Neato actually knows where it is, and first vacuums around the edge of the room, then fills in the rest by vacuuming in straight lines. It divides the house into 15 foot square sections and vacuums each one, moving from room to room. If it runs out of power, it goes back to its base station and completes the job after recharging. It can be given a weekly schedule to clean on, too.

It is possible for the Neato to get stuck, but it is a very deterministic device, and tends to get caught in the same places and in the same ways. I watched it vacuum my entire house twice (which was very entertaining), and tweaked things a little so there were no worries about it getting stuck. Since then, I have just let it go.

In terms of getting stuck, the biggest problem is loose hanging cables. They seem to be invisible to the range finder, and if a cable gets hooked on the front of the device, it triggers the bumper no matter what the vacuum does to escape. Other than that, I’ve had no problems with it navigating furniture leg forests, errant shoes, or under the bed.

I would say the Neato is a much better design all around, compared to other robots in its price range. It vacuums everything at least once, does a good job, and gets pretty close to the walls (you will need to sweep/dust the last half inch yourself, or use another vacuum for that), and behaves in a fairly predicable way, making it easy to “robot safe” your home.

In my opinion, it’s the true robot vacuum cleaner that is also affordable.

Hmm. Well, I was disappointed with the Roomba — I bought one, but returned it — so this is an alternative. Still waiting for Rosie, though. But the price isn’t bad.