Neato's D8, D9, D10 robot vacuums boast laser assistance, Siri Shortcut support
Neato Robotics has launched a trio of new models in its robot vacuum range, with the Neato D10, D9, and D8 premium models offering intensive cleaning and low-light operation.
Neato D10
Like other models from the company, such as the Botvac D7, the three products are smart home vacuum cleaners that are controllable from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Using a companion app, users can map their home, set schedules of operation, manually start and stop it from cleaning, see where the robot has cleaned, and even receive a notification about the robot's status.
Since the last generation's release, Neato has expanded its existing support for services including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant into Apple's ecosystem. While not full HomeKit compatibility, the app now works with Siri Shortcuts, allowing users to verbally instruct the robot to perform specific actions.
The group offers edge-to-edge cleaning with the widest brush available in the robot vacuum market. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support is bolstered by a rapid setup process, which is claimed to take just six steps to go through between opening the box and the first clean.
The Neato D8 includes the company's LaserSmart technology to improve its effectiveness in low-light situations, such as working with the room lights off or under furniture. Offering a 90-minute runtime, it also includes an extra-wide brush and a large dirt bin, to minimize the number of times it needs to be emptied.
The D9 improves on the D8 by being able to pick up more dirt over a longer period of time. Using an ultra-performance HEPA-style filter, it can capture 99.5% of dust and allergens, while its runtime of up to 120 minutes allows it to handle larger workspaces.
The top-of-the-range Neato D10 extends the runtime to 150 minutes, as well as performing an even deeper clean. An included True HEPA filter captures up to 99.7% of allergens as small as 0.3 microns.
Neato will be shipping the D10, D9, and D8 this fall in North America, Europe, and Japan. Pricing has yet to be announced.
Neato D10
Like other models from the company, such as the Botvac D7, the three products are smart home vacuum cleaners that are controllable from an iPhone, iPad, or Apple Watch. Using a companion app, users can map their home, set schedules of operation, manually start and stop it from cleaning, see where the robot has cleaned, and even receive a notification about the robot's status.
Since the last generation's release, Neato has expanded its existing support for services including Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant into Apple's ecosystem. While not full HomeKit compatibility, the app now works with Siri Shortcuts, allowing users to verbally instruct the robot to perform specific actions.
The group offers edge-to-edge cleaning with the widest brush available in the robot vacuum market. Wi-Fi and Bluetooth support is bolstered by a rapid setup process, which is claimed to take just six steps to go through between opening the box and the first clean.
The Neato D8 includes the company's LaserSmart technology to improve its effectiveness in low-light situations, such as working with the room lights off or under furniture. Offering a 90-minute runtime, it also includes an extra-wide brush and a large dirt bin, to minimize the number of times it needs to be emptied.
The D9 improves on the D8 by being able to pick up more dirt over a longer period of time. Using an ultra-performance HEPA-style filter, it can capture 99.5% of dust and allergens, while its runtime of up to 120 minutes allows it to handle larger workspaces.
The top-of-the-range Neato D10 extends the runtime to 150 minutes, as well as performing an even deeper clean. An included True HEPA filter captures up to 99.7% of allergens as small as 0.3 microns.
Neato will be shipping the D10, D9, and D8 this fall in North America, Europe, and Japan. Pricing has yet to be announced.
Comments
As the article states, it increases effectiveness in low-light, not that it stops working.
Whether a vacuum cleaner can operate in low light should be irrelevant now because they should be able to ask your HomeKit controller to turn on all the lights while it is operating. Don't they all have wireless features? A few lines of software can resolve this.
Some low end robots that just bounce around and have no mapping capabilities don't need any light to operate because it doesn't matter.
I have a Roborock S6 that uses LiDAR. It uses laser light technology to determine distance to objects in its path. It can navigate a dark room with no lights. Better than a camera but it can be fooled sometimes by mirror surfaces or dark walls. It doesn't see thin silver legs on furniture very well either. I love the way is slows down before it reaches an object or a wall so it doesn't bang against it.
I'm not an expert on the technologies but have had several robot vacuums in the past 10 years. Having two dogs and being a clean house freak, I can't live without one. Keeps the house clean during the week so I don't have to pull out the Miele canister vacuum. The Roborock S6 has been the best I've had so far. I've been reading articles lately about vacuums using AI and lasers so there are more advancements to come.
However, all Neato's have worked with lasers from the very beginning and they always work in perfect darkness. In fact they should work better in perfect darkness than in light. Their website currently says Neato's work "even in the dark". Roomba's in the early days worked exclusively with random motion, which by definition contains no "pattern." All Roomba's for sale on their website today come with "optical vision." You said your Roomba has no eyes, but works on a pattern. I don't see how that's possible since the visionless Roomba's had to work randomly while the optical Roomba does work with a pattern. So which is it? Is your Roomba blind or not? If it's blind then by necessity it must work randomly with no patterns. However some models like the 980 had dirt sensors that allowed them to detect the sound of dirt and they did repeat over dirty areas using that information. Please free me of my confusion.
I think the article wasn't trying to say low light was a new Neato feature, but that it's a current and continuing feature. Something seems to have been worded poorly. All current models of Roomba use optical cameras and probably should be asking HomeKit to turn on all the lights while it does its cleaning. Neato's don't need any light.
My model is XV-21. Nothing I write here is as certain as General Relativity because I'm just an average consumer, not an expert.
In the future, I'd love for the device to be able to sense clothing on the ground, pet toys, and other thin-ish items that may get sucked up and clogged in the vacuum. It's not a big deal to pick up before the vacuum starts, but sometimes I miss something, so I wish it was smarter.
I read an article recently where newer technology using AI, cameras, and lasers would allow a robot vacuum to recognize dog feces and other messes to avoid. It also mentioned privacy concerns due to user data being stored somewhere off premises instead of onboard the robot.
After the first vacuuming with my BotVac I noticed that the carpet looked clean (just as it always did after I vacuumed), but the bin was full, so I cleaned it out and ran it again. Again, it was full, so I cleaned it out and ran it again. It wasn't until the 3rd pass that it wasn't filling up the bin. I now vacuum every day.
I have pets and a much cleaner home than I did before.
https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/home-robots/irobot-brings-visual-mapping-and-navigation-to-the-roomba-980
Very cool.
Wrong. All modern Roombas create a visual map using infrared sensors. Infrared sensors are less effective on dark and non-reflective surfaces, and do benefit from increased lighting.