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Neato Robotics XV-11 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

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Neato Robotics XV-11 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Brian Klutch

Unlike the better-known Roomba, which cleans at random, bouncing off furniture and redirecting itself, the Neato XV-11 vacuums strategically. It surveys the room with its infrared laser range-finder, taking 4,000 readings a second and measuring the distance to every object within 15 feet, and repeats this reconnaissance from several vantage points until it has constructed a bulletproof plan of attack. Next it goes to work, vacuuming around the perimeter of the room and then taking out the center, zooming up and back in neat rows.

It scans constantly for new obstacles as it moves, so it won't be defeated by a surprise cat or toddler. Laser navigation conserves battery life, allowing the vacuum to cover new ground with every sweep instead of hitting the same patches over and over. The XV-11 devotes 80 percent of its energy to vacuuming - a feat worth saluting.

$400; neatorobotics.com

9 Comments

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Americano

11/19/10 at 12:13 pm

400 bucks is alot of money for a vacuum that does a half-baked job. As a Roomba owner, I find the trouble with these robotic cleaners is that if you live in a house with more than one landing, or even just one landing but one or more levels, you need to buy a Roomba for each level, on each landing, which apart from being unsightly might also be bad value for money compared to paying a cleaner 20 bucks an hour...and you coan't overcome this problem by simply relocating it from room to room, because it then needs to re-learn the layout of that room again and map that against where it goes to for power.

Until a robotic vacuum can tackle stairs don't waste your hard earned cash.

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