Does the robot vacuum cleaner "PUREi9" have a perfect homing instinct?
On January 17, Electrolux, a Swedish home appliance manufacturer, announced a new robot vacuum cleaner, the PUREi9. It is the second new robot vacuum cleaner in 17 years, following the robot vacuum cleaner "Trilobite" released in 2001. The release is scheduled for March 2nd, and the estimated market price is around 130,000 yen (excluding tax).
Electrolux Japan President and CEO Keiichi Nagaoka, who attended the product presentation held prior to the launch, re-entered the robot vacuum cleaner market after 17 years. made clear its intention to The reason for this is that we were able to overcome two issues that robot vacuum cleaners have.
The first is "autonomy". In other words, the robot vacuum cleaner moves around automatically, and when it finishes cleaning, it can return to the charging base by itself. It's a machine," Nagaoka said confidently.
And the other is the high basic performance as a vacuum cleaner. Mr. Nagaoka said, ``Even though it is a robot vacuum cleaner, it is essentially a vacuum cleaner, so it must have the same performance as a vacuum cleaner.''
Electrolux's original technology called "3D Vision technology" was adopted there. Equipped with two infrared laser emitting parts on the left and right of the front of the main unit, the camera in the center of the front captures the reflected laser light when it hits the object and recognizes the obstacle. As a mechanism, it is the same as "SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping)" installed in other robot vacuum cleaners such as iRobot's "Rumba" and Dyson's "Dyson 360 Eye", but obstacles are created by CAD data. Since it analyzes in 3D like this, it is characterized by being able to distinguish obstacles more clearly and with high accuracy.
Because the camera, which is the receiver of the laser, is placed in front of the laser emitter, not on the top of the main unit, there is little detection failure of the laser that bounces off an obstacle. The front camera allows you to see the scenery just ahead, so you can identify obstacles and steps that you may hit and avoid them with high accuracy.
In terms of structure, we adopted a unique shape based on a triangle. The main body dimensions are W32.5×H8.5×D28cm, and the tip is equipped with a suction port of about 20.5cm and a roll brush to efficiently suck up dust. The suction part is located about 3 cm from the tip of the front of the main unit, making it easier to directly suck in dust compared to when it is provided in the center of the main unit.
Robot vacuum cleaners generally have only one brush called a "side brush" on the front right side of the main unit to collect dust from the corners of the room and the feet of furniture. Robot vacuum cleaners from other companies often have a sensor on the bottom of the main unit, and the length and number of bristles are adjusted so that the bristles do not cover the sensor on the bottom.
However, since the PUREi9 does not have a sensor on the bottom of the main unit, it has more and longer bristles than other robot vacuum cleaners. Because it is a flexible material with good flexibility, the side brush sticks to the floor when it touches the floor, making it difficult to create gaps. This reduces the chances of the brush kicking off dust or scratching cords.
In addition, while most robot vacuum cleaners share the motor of the roll brush and the side brush of the suction part, and there are many types that move in conjunction, PUREi9 is for the wheel drive, the roll brush of the suction part, and the side brush. It has 3 independent motors for brushes. The motor for the side brush allows you to control the rotation speed independently, which will be a strength in preventing dust from flying off and cords from getting tangled.
In terms of suction power, which is essential for the essential performance of a vacuum cleaner, it is equipped with a high-performance fan that generates about 10L of airflow per second. It seems that it can strongly absorb dust regardless of the material of the floor such as flooring and carpet with reliable suction power.
PUREi9 has a triangular shape, so it tends to be smaller than a circular robot vacuum cleaner, but it still has a dust cup capacity of 700ml. It is also suitable for homes with pets, where animal hair tends to fill up the dust box quickly.
Continuous operation time is about 40 minutes in normal mode, and about 60 minutes in "ECO mode" that keeps the battery longer by reducing output. Charging time is about 3 hours, but it also has a quick charge function that restores to 90% in 2 hours. If the battery runs low while driving, it will automatically return to the charging base and charge quickly.
The main unit is equipped with a wireless LAN, and by linking with a dedicated smartphone application, remote operation and schedule settings can be performed. Although functions such as displaying the cleaning history on a map and accumulating cleaning data in the cloud have not been adopted, they are technically possible and we intend to support them in the future by updating the application.
At the demonstration held at the product launch event, the camera in the receiver captures the reflected light from the laser installed in front of the main unit, and based on that, the robot vacuum cleaner visualizes the surroundings in 3D. I was able to confirm that I was able to grasp it firmly. I was impressed by the high recognition accuracy and evasiveness of being able to approach obstacles as close as possible without ramming into them.
PUREi9 is an expensive category in the current robot vacuum market. However, I think that it is a convincing product for those who say, "I want it to clean well, but I don't want it to damage my household goods."