Robotic vacuum cleaners

This site is primarily based on the Irobot roomba robot, mainly due to it being the product I own and believe in. As part of this blog I was interested to see what other robotic vacuum cleaners were available on the market.

Having carried out much research on the irobot roomba I’ve yet to find any significant bad reviews about the product. That with the fact that it was recommended by someone I trust really sold the product to me.

What are your alternatives if your interested in buying a robotic vacuum cleaner? 

Dyson, is one of the major players in vacuum cleaners so I expected them to have an offering. In 2006 the launched a product called the DC06. However for some reason it is no longer on their range of products for sale. Looking at the module it seems awfully big and cumbersome compared to the irobot roomba.

Electolux is the biggest electrical manufacturers in the world, producing a range of products from Freezers to vacuums.  I expected with their size to have a competitor to the Irobot Roomba. It seems a similar story to Dyson, in 2001 they launched a product called the Trilobite Robotic Vacuum Cleaner. However after searching their site and the net it seems the product no longer exists. Interestedly the trilobite looked very similar to the Irobot roomba.

After checking out the big boys I decided to look else where and cam across the infinuvo. Not the easiest of names to pronounce. The only major competition I could find.  It looks almost the same as the irobot roomba, but doesn’t seem to have the same style of simplicity. Their cleanmate QQ-2 comes in a neon green colour, with what looks like a very complex control panel on the top.
The main selling point of this unit compared to the Irobot roomba is that it has an ultraviolet light which kills bacteria. Having trained in Microbiology I won’t start to explain how bad things can get when we kill good bacteria in the home.
Having read through the reviews on amazon, this robotic vacuum cleaner gets a good mix of positive reviews. Reviews from owners of both models suggest it isn’t as good as a Irobot roomba but it is okay.
I think it isn’t as versatile as the Irobot Roomba but is a good unit on its own.

Overall I was disappointed that there wasn’t more choice on the market. It would seem for now that Irobot is the best in the market. With smaller companies chasing them. I think the larger companies lack the robotic backing that Irobot has and as such cant compete at this time.

If you have a robotic vacuum cleaner that is different to the irobot roomba please let me know what you think.