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Electrolux Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the it-sucks dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Modelled on an ancient arthropod the Electrolux Trilobite is in stores from Friday and should cost around £999." It isn't the first robot vacuum, but they do claim it automatically recharges itself (which I don't think the Roomba does). And for only 8 times the price! A bargain. Electrolux's website has some more information.

3 of 209 comments (clear)

  1. Unfortunately, the roomba isn't terribly durable.. by tgd · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've used mine perhaps 20 times since I bought it, and it has a lot of problems now. Sometimes it just stops in the middle of the room and beeps its "I'm stuck" sound, even though its not. The battery has basically died to where it might run ten minutes on a full charge.

    Its an interesting device, but I've not been terribly happy about how its aged in the six months I've had it...

  2. Re:Roomba.. by tlianza · · Score: 4, Interesting
    I also have a Roomba, and that is my only vaccum cleaner currently. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and it is fantastic. The way these two machines work is fundamentally different, and I'm sure that reflects the price.

    Roomba doesn't map the room with ultrasound. In fact, it doesn't map the room at all. It drives around starting by spiraling out from a room's center, and uses heuristics-based AI to decide when it has cleaned the room. It lightly bumps into everything to navigate around - there are no beams to keep it from bumping into things.

    The self-charger is a good idea, and from what I've read the only thing that makes this vaccum superior to the Roomba (and does not justify the price difference). Roomba also can automatically detect a falloff like a stairway ledge, which this Electrolux cannot (without laying down strips).
    The way you normally use the Roomba is you set the room up so the Roomba can't escape
    This is true, but is also worth mentioning that you can arbitrarily decide where rooms begin and end because roomba comes with an invisible wall. You don't need to create barricades or shut doors.

    It's a pretty neat little device. I sure as hell wouldn't be vaccuming under my bed and couch on a daily basis if it wasn't for this thing going in there by itself.
  3. Five years ago... by f97tosc · · Score: 3, Interesting

    the CEO of Electrolux (Michael Trechov) visited my engineering school in Sweden and told us about this new cool product - the robot vacuum cleaner. He was using a prototype at home.

    I wonder what took them so long to go to market...

    Tor