Household Robotic Vacuums: Problems Today
This portion of the website will focus on the curent problems household robotoic vacuums face today.
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Problems today :
Although robotic vacuuming is a useful substitute for a tiring, noisy, manual job, it is not without its cons. Among the top competitors, are the Roomba Discovery from iRobot and Trilobite from Electrolux. The main problem that most people voiced, was the pricing of these vacuums. The Roomba Discovery is comparatively cheaper than its other counterparts are, but it has a filter for 20 dollars that needs to be replaced often. Others like the Trilobite can cost up to $1,800! Another problem posed by all robotic vacuums, are their inability to get into nooks and crannies around the house. To get to these areas, owners have to revert to their manual vacuums, with their special attachments.
The average battery life is 69 minutes. The average charge time is 3.6 hrs
A dilemma that owners have had with the Roomba Discovery is the low battery life of about 30 minutes - 60 minutes. It has to go back to its docking station often, where it needs to charge for another 3 hours. Similar to manual vacuuming, all items that a vacuum could be stuck on, need to be removed from the floor- or else the vacuum stops and beeps for help. The Roomba Discovery can also be stuck in a corner. One suggestion for fixing that problem, is to have wheels on the side of the vacuum, so that it can roll itself out of the corner. Another problem is animal and human hair getting stuck in the roller and clogging it. The Roomba has been said to have a high pitched and annoying sound on hard floors, but maybe adding a fabric cover on parts of the vacuum can solve that problem.
One problem with the Trilobite, is the fact that it has no bag to contain the dirt. This causes a need to continually dump the contents from the container frequently. There is not much that can be fixed with this problem, because one of the main appeals of these robotic vacuums is their compact and "cute" appearance. The Trilobite generally avoids furniture or walls, in order to avoid scratching them. Instead of only having its hard plastic cover, some padding should be added around the cover, so that it does not have to worry about scratching surfaces.
Many robotic vacuums simply beep when they get stuck.
Since most vacuums use bump sensors, they are bound to get stuck while cleaning around furniture. Most models try to implement some sort of reverse path, but the problem remains that they tend to become stuck. Robot vacuums should be able to predict if they can fit under a certain area. However, of course, they would need eyes then.
Robots cannot tell where rooms end without eyes
Most of the current robots use bump sensors to navigate. In addition, most come with virtual walls. These virtual walls are small devices that emit a stream of infrared. Similar to house some dog control fences work, as the robot nears the wall, it automatically turns away. The use of such a wall does not make the robot independent. A better navigation system as seen on the Samsung model needs to be implemented at lower costs on all models. Models should also know where they have cleaned already, and sensors should detect if a particular area needs special attention. Since most doorways are of a standard size, robots should be able to recognize these and map the room.
Most require the user to manually charge the robot
Only a few models today return to their docking station for charging. This is one of today's biggest problems. The truly independent robot should be able to clean based on a schedule, return to charge when necessary and empty its dirt bag into an external container. Currently the user must pick up the robot from where it has lost its charge (or finished cleaning), return it to its dock and empty its dustbin. The robot should know when its battery is low and automatically return to its dock. This smart dock would charge , clean and empty the dustbin.
Conclusion
In general, if you are a busy person who does not have a lot of time to do household chores, a robotic vacuum can be a great asset, because it allows the owner to multitask. However, currently maintenance of the vacuum itself may become an additional chore.