Comparison of robotic vacuum cleaners

Consumer robotic vacuum cleaner market is still in its infancy. A couple of years ago European companies (Electrolux, Karcher) first entered this market with a rather expensive set of products (Trilobite and Robocleaner). They were quickly followed by American iRobot with a line of roomba robotic vacuums, that were priced very reasonably. This pricing allowed iRobot to sell over 2 million roombas. In 2004 companies started releasing second generation robotic vacuums with lots of new features. Unfortunately reliability of these products is still low: you are lucky if your robotic cleaner still works after 1 year. On the positive side, these products are a great fun and do a good job of cleaning, especially on hard surfaces. Lately several Asian companies introduced low-priced vacuum robots (Roboking, Cleanmate).

	RC 3000 RoboCleaner	Roboking	Trilobite 2.0	CleanMate QQ-2	Roomba 570
Battery charging time	20 min	2h 30 min	2h 30min	2h 30min	3 hours
Brand			Trilobite		Roomba
Comments	Special rubber ears prevent from becoming wedged beneath furniture, excellent: roll-off system		handles fringed rugs and cables	Beeps when stuck, Kills bacteria and deodorizes with ultraviolet light
Containment	no		magnetic strips		Virtual Wall Lighthouses
Dust bin size	0.2l robot, 2l base station		1.2 liters	0.3 liter
Dust filtration	no	HEPA filter	micron filtration	3 washable filters	yes
Efficiency	160 square feet (15 m2)/hour		40 minutes to clean a 14' x 15' room	30 minutes at area of 4.8m x 3.2m	4 rooms in 100 min
Manufacturer	Karcher	LG	Electrolux	Metapo	iRobot
Model			2.0
Modes of operation	4 cleaning modes: Normal, Spot, Very dirty, Extensively dirty		normal, quick, spot
Navigation	bump	Bump, moves in 4 patterns: Gyro-Matrix, Variable-Matrix, and Spiral, Random	sonar	Bump, Five-step repetitive rotation movement
Noise	54 dB (quiet mode)		75dB	80dB at distance of 20cm
Obstacle avoidance	touch sensors		does not bump into obstacles or walls
Power	600 W	100W	90 Watt
Power supply				3V lithium battery (CR2032) is included, battery charger is 120V 60Hz.
Programmable				no	yes
Release date	August 2004	January 1, 2001	May 2004	March 2006	September 2007
Remote control	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Scheduler	Will clean for 3,6 or 9 hours or continuous (charges during)		yes	yes: Can program for up to 8o minutes in 10 minute intervals	7 different cleaning times
Self charging	yes		yes	yes	yes
Self emptying	Yes: automatically empties its dirt container, Dirty quantity sensor	no	No, but lets you know when it's full.	no	no
Sensors	infrared sensors, 4 fall optic sensors, sensor that detectd how dirty the floor is	22 sensors, Gyro sensor	ultrasound and infrared sensors	Photo sensor.	array of IR sensors
Shape					round
Size	280 x 98 mm (11" x 4")	13.3 centimeters tall (5.25 inches) and 34 centimeters wide (13.5 inches).	Height: 13cm (5''), Diameter: 35cm (14'')	14"x3.6"	13-inch diameter, 5.5-inch height
Stairs avoidance	Yes: fall sensors	no	Yes: cliff sensors, infrared stair sensor	Yes, using Photo sensor	yes
Surface type	hardwood floors: good, carpet: good, thick carpet: good		hard floors: good, carpet: good, thick carpets: ok	hardwood: good, tile: good, carpet: bad	hard floor, carpet, thick carpet
Warranty	1 Year Limited		1 year	One year	1 year
Weight	4.4 lbs		5kg (11 lbs)	2.7kg	12.5 lbs
Working time on a single charge	60 min	70 min	60 min	60 min	100 min

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