Get ready for Roomba

It’s been available in the US for a while. But now European European manufacturer VIP Domotec is introducing the Roomba here, writes ERM magazine.

The UK’s first truly affordable robot vacuum cleaner with a retail price tag of £299.99, the Roomba uses a three-stage cleaning process to clean the floor in a single pass. According to its inventors, it can go under any item of furniture that is higher than 100mm off the floor.

The Roomba is equipped with ‘edge following technology’, which means it cleans right up to the edges of a room – no magnetic strips are necessary. The cleaning process incorporates a rotating edge brush that cleans right up to skirting boards, two contra rotating brushes to remove bigger items of debris and raise the pile of the carpet, and a squeegee vacuum that removes smaller matter.

According to VIP Domotec, all the user has to do is switch the Roomba on, select the room size – small, medium or large – and walk away. Roomba cleans the room and stops when it has finished.
Other features include stair avoidance sensors, preventing the cleaner from falling down stairs, and intelligent sensors that detect walls, furniture and edges, for wall-to-wall cleaning.

The Roomba comes with a virtual wall unit that blocks areas off to the cleaner, using infra-red beams.
The cleaner will vacuum on a wide range of floor surfaces, including vinyl, wood, tiles and carpet, and adjusts automatically to tackle different coverings.

A spokesperson for VIP Domotec told ERM: “Roomba could well be the product 0f the year as far as the trade is concerned, as it is revolutionary at a time when the industry is crying out for genuine innovation. The price is unquestionably right for this level of labour saving convenience – £299.99 at retail. Roomba is a classic product for an easy in store demonstration.”