" It was Tomy, of all companies, that released what was technically the first robot vacuum back
in 1985. Sure, the Dustbot was a big-eyed, extremely blinky kids' toy, but the dustpan and
brush it carried was nought but a clever ruse. There was a vacuum in there, and it was able
to sense edges and change directions. Not the most efficient thing in the world, not even
particularly useful really. But it was the first.
Since then, plenty of companies have got into the mix, and robot vacuums are now both common and clever.
AI has granted some the power to recognize and dodge dog turds, for example, instead of auto-mashing them
into every corner of a carpet. Some can 3D-map and navigate your home to make sure they haven't missed a spot.
There are no less than 26 sensors on the 360 Vis Nav, including a boggle-eyed 360-degree fisheye lens on
top and several other cameras. There's an AI brain that "thinks and adapts" like the rest of us one day aspire to
. There's a triple-action brush bar – which sounds like something that would send dairy cows into
a lather of excitement, but apparently it's just some vacuuming thing, so you may have to let Daisy down gently.
There's an app, in which you can set up and schedule zones if you like that sort of thing. There's dual-link
suspension, so this baby will roll right over steps up to 21-mm (0.8-in) high. There is ... apparently no ability
to empty its own bin, which at a price around US$1,600 may be confusing – but only until you realize this is
just Dyson's engineering team playing 4D chess, finding an innovative way to make this thing suck even harder. "
