Neato XV-11: A Roomba with a View

a Roomba killer?

Next up in the household robot department is Neato Robotics (!) Neato XV-11. I don’t know what happened to the other ten, but this one is very swish. With a super-powered vacuum it can suck up all kinds of annoying dirt and debris – including dastardly pet hair! It can do this on carpet, rugs, hard floors, tile, stone, lino and presumably your face if you wish so. It has the innovative feature of a squared-off face (in comparison to the Roomba’s roundness), which allows it to get right up to the walls/skirting and into corners, known to be last stronghold of dust and crap. It is low-profile too, allowing for getting under stuff, such as furniture, skateboards or trip-wires.

An important point to note here is that the dustbin of the Neato XV-11 lifts out of the top of the robot, making it so much easier to empty than the Roomba.

The jewel in the crown has to be the RPS laser mapping system, which creates a map of everything in it’s surroundings – furniture, walls, shoes, bowls of custard, dead children etc.. – and will even find doorways, clean the room methodologically and zoom off into the next room. It also avoids stairs like the Roomba yet has the added feature of not bumping into everything. Once it has finished, it will go back to it’s charging base and chill out whilst catching a few electrons. It will even snuggle up to the charging base if you accidentally nudge it with your foot or something.

You can currently pre-order one of these beauts for $399.99. I think it might only be applicable to US residents though – for shame.