It’s no news that home automation has been on a steady rise over the last decade. The size of the global home automation market is projected to rise by about 10.7% over the next 4 years to hit a valuation of $109 billion (source).
Apart from the hype around AI, some unique selling points of devices in this category include ease of operation, noise elimination, set-and-forget devices that require little or no input from the user, and also effectiveness.
One popular device in this category is the robot or automatic vacuum cleaner. This smart vacuum cleaner uses sensors, drives and modifiable controllers to navigate its way while cleaning different types of floors. Robot vacuum cleaners come in different types and prices, from basic cheaper models to premium and more expensive models.
No matter the model or brand, the goal remains the same: to clean the floor well with little or no human supervision.
Are robot vacuums worth it?
Yes, robot vacuums are worth the investment. They would save you a lot of time and effort you would have spent cleaning your house manually every day. Automatic vacuum cleaners are so convenient to use since you do not have to move them around. They can move on their own, identify the dirt and clean it up!
With a smart vacuum cleaner, you do not even need to be around to clean your home. You can schedule your robot vacuum cleaner to clean for you so that you can come back to a neat home. Some models even have applications that allow you to initiate cleaning when you are out.
In case you are wondering if these automatic vacuum cleaners can avoid obstacles in their path, the answer is Yes, they can. They utilize their sensors to avoid obstacles as they clean the floor.
Again, automatic vacuum cleaners are designed to take up less space in your home and have cool, attractive designs.
How do robot vacuums work?
Some robot vacuum models have a smart vacuum navigation system that is powered by sensors and algorithms. With this technology, the automatic vacuum creates a map layout of your home and stores the information so it can be used to clean your house in the future. Different types of mapping technologies exist, they are either using camera, LiDAR sensors (Light Detection and Ranging), accelerometer sensors (for speed and localization) or a combination of all.
You can even assign boundaries or labels to each section of your home. For instance, you can have one for the “living room”, “master bedroom”, or “kitchen” and then instruct it to go clean that specific area. With these mechanisms, smart vacuum cleaners can identify areas that need cleaning and those that have been cleaned.
Smart vacuums navigate their way around your home via sensors. There are different types of sensors such as cliff sensors, wall sensors, obstacle sensors, and wheel sensors. Most of these sensors work with infrared lasers. However, some basic models use physical boundary strips.
With these features, automatic vacuum cleaners can identify obstacles and steep places like stairs where they need to stop moving.
Some models are also able to detect when their bin is full and automatically empty it (auto-empty robot vacuum cleaners).
What are the benefits of robot vacuum cleaners?
Obviously, smart vacuum cleaners have a lot of advantages that have made them so popular in the world of home automation.
- Convenience: Clean your house without breaking a sweat. Control the cleaner from your phone and keep your house sparkling clean.
- Time and Energy Saving: Say bye-bye to long hours of vacuuming with a lot of energy.
- Autonomous: A robot vacuum cleaner works on its own, highlighting areas that need cleaning and proceeding to do so. It goes back to its charging stand to charge automatically when its battery is low and then resumes cleaning once it is done charging.
- Effective cleaning: Automatic vacuum cleaners come with powerful suction that can help you clean up more dirt and debris on different surfaces in the home. Also, due to its small size, it can easily pick up dirt in areas that would be manually difficult to reach such as under beds, or sofas.
- Multiple surface cleaning: Smart vacuum cleaners are very effective for different types of floor surfaces, from tiles to hardwood, carpets, or rugs.
What are the differences with traditional vacuums?
Traditional vacuum cleaners have been around for a while. Although they both perform similar functions, the robot vacuum cleaners are superior in the following ways:
- Even though they both clean surfaces in the home well, robot vacuum cleaners can easily clean areas that are more difficult to clean such as under beds and sofas.
- Automatic vacuum cleaners need minimal input from you, and can even work in your absence, but traditional vacuum cleaners cannot work in your absence.
- Smart vacuum cleaners are more time-saving than traditional vacuum cleaners, as they afford you the time to do other things, like cooking a meal for your kids while your home is being cleaned.
- Robot vacuum cleaners have a built-in memory so they can save the areas they cleaned for future cleaning purposes.
- Automatic vacuum cleaners take up much less space than traditional vacuum cleaners due to their size.
Are smart vacuum cleaners easy to use?
Robot vacuum manufacturers always ensure that their devices are simple to operate. They also make them easy to troubleshoot so that in case there is an issue, a few simple steps would help you identify it. For instance, one common issue is when the vacuum brush is not spinning. This happens mostly when the vacuum cleaner is in hard floor mode or the brush is clogged. All you have to do is turn the hard floor mode off or unclog the brush roll
If you’re worried that automatic vacuum cleaners are challenging to maintain, rest assured. They were meticulously designed with ease of use in mind, ensuring a seamless and effortless cleaning experience. Yes, there are routine cleanings from time to time, and if your model is not an auto-empty robot vacuum cleaner, you may have to empty the bin when it is full. But all these are so simple to do and take a few minutes to complete.
Home automation will continue to evolve, and smart vacuum cleaners are unique devices that will continue to make cleaning at home easier and faster. Nowadays, they can charge themselves, clean your house, and return to their stand quietly. So, if you’re wondering if robot vacuums are worth the investment? Yes, they are.
Interesting Related Article: “Enhance Your Home Cleaning: How to Use Robot Vacuum with Mapping“