iRobot’s cloud-connected Roomba 980 maps your floors while cleaning

While we’re aware that Roombas can clean up our floors enough to make them sparkle, the latest robot unveiled by iRobot is even smarter. Called the Roomba 980, this little hi-tech vacuum combines adaptive navigation with visual localization. What that means is not only is this robot more intelligent than its predecessors, it can also map and clean an entire floor on its own.

Being the first of the bots to be connected to the cloud, you can control the 980 from iRobot’s new “HOME” app, which lets you kick off cleanings from anywhere, while also managing the bot’s schedule. 

The Roomba 980 waiting to make your floors shine. Image source: Engadget.

Pretty much, the 980 is iRobot’s plunge into the smart home. According to the company, it’s the first time its visual simultaneous localization and mapping (vSLAM) tech has made it into a consumer device. Previously, it was found on more enterprise-oriented products such as its Ava telepresence robot. vSLAM is the heart of the company’s new iAdapt 2.0 Navigation with Visual Localization technology, which allows Roomba to intelligently map your floors while avoiding obstacles. A visual sensor, which is basically a powerful camera, along with a floor-tracking sensor allows it to know exactly how far it goes in any direction. 

The Roomba 980 on a mission. Image source: Engadget.

According to iRobot co-founder and CEO, Colin Angle, the bot can create an actual map of the home. This is important because instead of cleaning a part of your home, it will be able to clean the floors of your entire house. iRobot also claims that the brushless motor on the 980 cleans carpets and rugs twice as well as its generation 3 motors from the brush-equipped 600 and 700 models. The adventurous 980 can clean for a full two hours, and if there is still work to be done after that, it will return to its home base to charge before getting back to its job.

The Roomba 980 is available in the U.S. and Canada starting at $899. Though that's a hefty price tag, chances are it'll lower the cost of previous Roombas, which are still amazing by the way.

Source: Engadget