iRobot, the company behind Roomba vacuum cleaners, has announced that its products will soon be powered by iRobot Genius Home Intelligence, which is the name of the AI that will be put behind the wheel.
According to iRobot’s CEO Colin Angle, this will replace the intelligence systems in all of the company’s robots.
Although many robo vacuum cleaners are slowly becoming commodity goods, iRobot wants to stand out by offering something extra.
In this case, users will retain some degree of control over them.
The early robo vacuum cleaners functioned on a simple basis where the user pressed the button and they would do all the rest.
Their AI-powered counterparts differ in the sense that they allow for some form of collaboration.
In 2018, Roombas received a mapping feature that allows them to form a better picture of your home.
In turn, the user can better control what parts should receive priority treatment.
Technology introduced by iRobot will take this a couple of steps forward and make it even more detailed.
For instance, the built-in cameras will allow the robots to identify specific pieces of furniture in your home (such as couches and tables).
Through an app, users will be able to suggest which rooms are in need of more cleaning than others.
As an added bonus, issuing commands will also be possible via a digital assistant such as Alexa.
For instance, you will be able to issue a voice command for the robot to clean under the table once your family has finished eating dinner.
Roombas will also be marking various areas inside the building and grouping them into ‘clean zones’ and ‘keep out zones’.
The latter refers to an area that is hard to navigate (such as under the TV stand where plenty of cables can be found).
Tying functions to particular events will be a key factor in the design
Event-based functionality will also be at the forefront of Roombas as we go forward.
For instance, you could program them to vacuum when you leave the house, or you could simply order them to do so at a specific time of the day.
Another option is to tie them to a seasonal event such as the time when your pet is shedding.
Event-based automation should be available to every Roomba that has the capacity to connect to Wi-Fi.
As for security, Angle claims that the company uses encryption, making every data point collected harder to hack.
Today’s news was brought to you by TD SYNNEX – the UK’s number one solutions distributor.
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