Robot vacuum cleaner "Roborock S6 Max V" that avoids cords and pet droppings
SB C & S will release "Roborock S6 Max V", a robot vacuum cleaner that moves while avoiding objects falling on the floor by combining a twin-lens camera and AI on September 11. We will deliver it from the online presentation for the media.
Roborock is a robot vacuum cleaner developed by Beijing Roborock Technology Co., Ltd. in Beijing, China. By 2019, we have sold more than 5.5 million units in more than 40 countries.
Entry into Japan is from the Roborock S6 series in October 2019. SB C & S has backed up its entry into the Japanese market. Shunsuke Azuma of SB C & S commented, "The penetration rate of robot vacuum cleaners is low in Japan, and market growth can be expected." In the future, we are planning to release multiple models with the aim of increasing market share and penetration rate.
When I asked Mr. Higashi how he understood the reason why robot vacuum cleaners were not popular in Japan, the following answers were returned.
"Japanese homes are often smaller than overseas homes, and often need to be cleaned up to get the robot vacuums working. That's probably the hurdle to buying a robot vacuum. Since this new product has a function to avoid obstacles, you can save the trouble of cleaning up before cleaning. Furthermore, we would like to give momentum to the spread by releasing products in an affordable price range. I think "(Mr. Higashi)
The new product "Roborock S6 MaxV" is a robot vacuum cleaner equipped with an LDS (Laser Direct Structuring) laser and a twin-lens camera. It is an excellent product that can be wiped with water as well as normal cleaning. The price is 79,800 yen (excluding tax). It will be sold on the EC site of home electronics mass retailers, SoftBank SELECTION online shop, + Style, Amazon, Yahoo! Shopping, Rakuten Ichiba, etc.
The LDS laser, which is also installed in the conventional model, demonstrates advanced spatial recognition performance and accurately maps the room layout in real time. Furthermore, by using two cameras mounted on the main body, it is possible to measure the three-dimensional distance to an object like the human eye. The unique AI "Reactive AI" specifically recognizes the shape of obstacles and displays them as icons on the map of the dedicated app.
There are eight types of obstacles displayed by the icon: footwear, power strips, cords, cloth, scales, pedestals (home appliances such as electric fans), dustpans, and pet droppings. In addition to these, objects with a width of 5 cm and a height of 3 cm or more are recognized as "other" objects and avoided. Children's toys and books are recognized as "others" and are displayed as icons.
It seems difficult to recognize and avoid the cords, which are also the demon gates of robot vacuum cleaners, one by one. According to the person in charge, "We will detect bundled cables. We are proceeding with research so that we can detect even one cable in the future by repeating machine learning."
Qualcomm's APQ8053 processor is installed in the main body, and high-precision movement of Roborock S6 Max V is realized by high computing performance. Since AI learns every time you clean, it is said that the recognition accuracy of objects will be further improved. I don't think "dustpan" is so much in the house, but when I asked the person in charge, it was "because I refer to the Chinese lifestyle."
Now, the problem when detecting and avoiding obstacles is whether they can be cleaned and wiped with water while avoiding obstacles. It doesn't make sense if you can hardly clean the room as a result of avoiding hitting obstacles.
To solve such a problem, Roborock S6 Max V has different workarounds depending on obstacles. For obstacles such as scales that can be hit a little, avoid them while approaching them to the last minute, but avoid obstacles that are troublesome if you step on them like "pet droppings" while keeping a distance of 10 cm or more. increase. It seems that this "pet droppings" avoidance function was installed at the request of pet owners.
In addition, "Because it has an infrared camera mode, it is possible to work even in the dark" (Mr. Higashi). In this case, not only cleaning at night, but also cleaning in a sunny place can be entrusted.
It is equipped with a watching function that allows you to check the inside of the house in real time by making use of the twin-lens camera. With the smartphone app, you can operate the Roborock S6 MaxV remotely, so you can check the inside of your house or your pet from outside, or talk to your pet from the Roborock S6 MaxV speaker. However, since it is not a two-way communication, you cannot have a conversation.
I'm worried about security when I can see the house from outside. Regarding that point, "Video and image data is not copied, saved, or sent to the cloud, and is deleted immediately, so you can use it with confidence," says Mr. Higashi.
Roborock S6 MaxV is the first robot vacuum cleaner to obtain "TUV certification for user security protection" issued by TÜV Rheinland, a certification service organization for technology and safety. Mr. Higashi emphasized, "We are thoroughly protecting privacy and security."
Let's also take a look at the basic performance of the Roborock S6 Max V. The suction power has been increased by 25% from the conventional model, reaching a maximum of 2,500 Pa. It is powerful enough to absorb not only fine dust but also iron balls. Furthermore, if you set "Carpet Mode" in the app, the carpet will be automatically recognized and the suction power will be increased for cleaning.
In addition to sucking and cleaning, it is equipped with a water wiping function with a high-precision pressurization type equivalent to the conventional model S5 Max. Since the water is always wiped with a constant pressure, water does not collect on the floor. Using the app, you can easily set the amount of water and prohibit wiping, which is convenient.
As a function of the application, it also has a function to set a cleaning area such as "area cleaning", "room cleaning", "spot cleaning", and "virtual wall". In addition, you can specify the order of the rooms to be cleaned, and set it according to the purpose and usage.
For example, in the case of a detached house, you can save up to 4 maps of multiple floors such as the 1st floor and the 2nd floor. You can set a virtual wall prohibition area or water wiping area for each floor, so you can save the trouble of setting a map every time you clean each floor.
The main specifications are a body size of approximately 353 mm in diameter x 96.5 mm in thickness, a weight of approximately 3.6 kg, an operating time of up to 180 minutes, a dust box container of 460 ml, and a water wiping tank capacity of 297 ml (4 levels of water volume adjustment by the app). ), Cleaning area is up to 200 square meters. It also supports the voice assistants Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
As a function unique to Japan, in addition to standard language, Hakata dialect, Kansai dialect, Kyoto dialect, Tsugaru dialect, butler's voice, and anime voice are available in the voice guidance function of the app. Information on voice actors is not planned to be released at this time. This function is compatible with conventional models as long as the model is equipped with the LDS laser mapping function.
"Roborock E4" is also released at the same time as a low-end model. The price is 29,800 yen (excluding tax). The main body size is approximately 350 mm in diameter x 95 mm in thickness, weighs about 2.96 kg, the operating time is up to 200 minutes, the dust box container is 640 ml, the water wiping tank capacity is 180 ml (manual two-step adjustment of the amount of water with the knob), the cleaning area is Up to 200 square meters. The mapping method is W gyro + motion tracking sensor. The maximum suction level is 2,000 Pa. Compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
In addition, a new color white model has been added to the "Roboeock S5 MAX" released in April. The price is 59,000 yen (excluding tax).
+ Style, which handles sales, will also carry out a campaign to commemorate the launch of Roborock S6 Max V. If you purchase "Roborock S6 MaxV" at the + Style main store and Amazon store during the campaign period, the regular selling price is 87,780 yen (tax included), but it will be 5,000 yen off at 82,780 yen (tax included). The campaign period is from September 8th to September 30th, 2020. Please check out the special campaign.