I worked on this product back in 2002-2005. I developed the initial wheel system for this and early prototypes of their digital (switched reluctance) motor once we realised we'd need a very high power density compressor motor. Sadly the battery technology has taken a long time to get to the point where it can now give a useable run time, even when the vacuum only consumes 100W (typical cabled vacuums use 1.7-2kw). Also the prices of other components, high power embedded CPUs, cameras and sensors have reduced dramatically since then. It uses an intelligent algorithm to maximise the potential of the runtime, meaning that it tries to elminiate running over the same patch of floor more than once. This is what it uses the 360 camera for and SLAM image processing and maths that I still don't fully understand :) The chap with grey hair switching it off at the end of the teaser video[1] is the brains behind all the navigation and image processing software, Mike Aldred, very clever guy.
Back then (9 years ago mind!) it was a Sony sensor probably long obsolete now. 1024x1024 res which is shockingly low res but easily good enough for SLAM feature mapping.
Others have commented similarly, but I just have to say that we've tried various Dysons over the years, and they always start off brilliantly. E.g., we vacuumed a nominally clean bedroom with a new Dyson upright and it was like steam-cleaning, or better, since it was dry--we pulled out a whole container's worth of dirt.
But then after 6 mo to a year, they start to fall apart, with (their many internal) joints not sealing, vacuum power dropping, motors failing eventually, etc., etc.
I don't think Dyson engineers understand nor design for long term durability.
We've switched to Miele vacuums and couldn't be happier.
I've had my Dyson upright for probably nearly a decade now (or at least 7-8 years that I can account for at minimum). It started off as a vacuum for a retail store I owned, and was used every single day for about an hour solid, for about 4 years, until I sold my stores... and has since been my home vacuum being used weekly. I've never had it break down, or any parts fall off, and it still works better than any other vacuum I've tried.
Maybe I just got lucky, not sure, but I've been very happy with mine.
My mum got a first gen Dyson and it lasted over a decade. I got a used dyson (not sure the model, its the one that pulls behind where your hose has the attachments for the sweeper head) about 3 years, so its around 6 years old and it still runs great. No issues whatsoever.
My mums second dyson is still going strong.
I keep hearing people claim they don't work well, I picked up my own because my friend said it worked like shit. I had a stray thread on the end of a matt and it stripped 3 rows of fibre before I got it shut off. The suction is incredible, I honestly just think people don't know how to vaccuum properly.
I have no doubt the Dysons made a decade ago were excellent vacuums. In my experience the ones made the past few years are very much not worthy of the good name.
Although I've had good luck with HP Printers mysef (still own several 4250's higher speed and do plenty of output with high quality) sounds like similar comments I've read about recent HP products.
I've found that this kind is very common; a company will build a good reputation on high-quality products and then slowly lower the quality to make more profit.
It's almost to the point where there should be trademark laws that start to enforce a type of product to protect consumers. Like when Pyrex changed the composition and started breaking. I know it's not feasible to so cleanly draw such lines - for instance, I'd prefer if Lenovo wasn't allowed to use ThinkPad on their current line of items.
On the flip side, I've had a Dyson for the last 5 years and it's still kicking ass despite contending with the monster amount of Siberian Husky hair that fails to stay on my husky. Extremely happy with this thing. I'd be all over them if things went south within a year.
I've had mine for about 4 years now and it's fine. Perhaps you weren't emptying the tank often enough, which is when it fills about half way for whatever reason. Otherwise, no idea, sorry.
Having said that, I was expecting wonders from it when I first got it, but the suction isn't as amazing as I thought it would be. I suspect it's just very good suction considering it's bagless. I'm tempted to switch to a Miele as well when my Dyson dies...which it seems to be taking its sweet time doing. But I suspect I will miss not having to pay for cyclical costs (i.e. bags).
I've got a ten year old Dyson Animal. I've had some parts break, the hinge on the bottom of the canister, a hub cap, and most annoyingly, the handle. I've epoxyed the heck out of the handle a couple times, so it's ugly but still functional. And it hasn't failed to suck up a mind-boggling amount of dirt each time we vacuum.
My parents have a DC01, and about a week ago it started making burning smells. Turns out the motor brushes had run out. How many products can you say that you've used until their motor brushes run out? I don't think it's ever happened to me.
I think you've just been unlucky. They have a 5 year warranty anyway for such an event.
Yes, our motor burned out after a couple of years, and then we had to chase all over kingdom come (about an hour's drive) to find a dealer who could fix it.
We had a similar experience with our dysons. They begun to fall apart after 1-2 years. Granted, it was a three-story house with 7 family members and two dogs, so they had to take some abuse, but still, we expected more (than just innovation) at this price point.
We've had our Dyson for 5+ years now with no issues, but we may get a different brand soon. We recently started looking at new carpeting and when the guy came to do measurements he commented on the Dyson: "That vacuum will shorten the life of your carpet faster than your kids."
At first I blew it off, but there are some carpets that will only honor their warranty if you use certain vacuums, so it seems like it might be a real issue.
I always thought Dyson was crap, based solely on their obnoxious ads and garish design. Then I bought my wife their cordless upright vacuum for her birthday (I know, I know, but she asked for it).
I was astonished when the vacuum became my favorite piece of tech in the whole house.
We have a roomba that works fine, but it's extremely hard to imagine that I won't buy this thing immediately.
Hmm, yeah, why? I haven't reflected on that, so let me do so now:
It's super light (a grown man can operate the vacuum and hold a beer with the same hand, while holding a baby with the other arm), and yet it is SUPER powerful (I just leave mine in MAX mode, which only lasts for 6 minutes between recharges -- but that's plenty).
It's extremely, unbelievably easy to clean/empty (just push one button while holding it over the trash bin) and also somehow doesn't accumulate film of disgusting 'dustbestos' like all other no-bag vacuums I've experienced... so it stays clean.
It seems to be extremely durable... having survived many combats and forced marches at the hands of my 2-year-old son.
It has an instant trigger, seems to go from of to full power in 10ms or less (I mean you can't detect it; squeeze the trigger in quick staccato bursts, and it's just all like VREEEEEEEEEEEER!!!VREER!!VREER!!)
Despite the light weight, it is extremely POWERFUL. Much better than the $600 tow-the-pod-around corded Hitachi we had before, at a fraction of the size, weight, and yet it doesn't even have a cord.
Um... I think that's all.
OH WAIT THERE'S MORE!!! I almost forgot the awesome wall mounted charger. Like an idiot, I didn't bother to screw the wall mount thing to the wall for the first few months. Finally, I did. Once you do that, any vacuum that isn't conveniently mounted on the wall is a ridiculous piece of shit. (Note that ours is mounted on the wall inside the kitchen closet; doesn't have to be shown off like some piece of very ugly art.) The wall mount makes it more convenient to access and replace than any vacuum I've had previously.
So what are the cons? For one, it looks ridiculous, like a space weapon from a $300-budget high school sci-fi movie. But hmm that's about it.
Love that thing.
EDIT: some of the downstream comments seem to be talking about some other model. (I think maybe 'upright vacuum' doesn't mean what I think it means.) The one I have is either this one or a very similar model: http://www.amazon.com/Dyson-DC35-Digital-Slim-cordless/dp/B0...
So what are the cons? For one, it looks ridiculous, like a space weapon from a $300-budget high school sci-fi movie. But hmm that's about it.
And that's arguable. It's also probably not as powerful as you think. You can't use the Dyson handheld for vacuum bags, but any "drag a pod" vacuum will probably do the job. I think the spinning bristles really help to pull things of the ground or out of carpet fibres.
That said, I too have the Dyson handheld and agree, one of the best appliances I own. I really like the soft brush in the extra attachment kit you can buy. Now I can dust and vacuum the dust up at the same time.
I have one too (DC59). Parent it right, it is pretty amazing (no more "ugh have to get out the vacuum cleaner and plug it in, so much faff"). Only cons are:
* Bin is too small - you have to empty it a few times per clean which kind of sucks (unless you clean every other day or something). It also means the dust sometimes gets stuck in the bin and you have to pull it out.
* Bin opening mechanism is a big unreliable.
Battery life and suction are both plentiful. And the hassle of emptying the bin frequently is still miles less than the hassle of getting out and plugging in a corded vacuum.
The size and weight are big time wins for me too. We have a plugged in Dyson and we haven't used it since we got the cordless. It allows for a lot of fast micro-cleaning without the necessity of hauling out a giant vacuum, plugging it in, waddling around and then winding it back up.
There's zero commitment, and like you said, on MAX, it really does the job, there's rarely much I need to clean that will take longer than the charge, and if there is, I just split it up into two sessions.
I had the same experience. Can't remember the exact model number but it was a normal upright model. That thing was amazing. Shame the wife got it in the divorce :( (heh)
The only things that broke were simple to replace (and pretty cheap to be fair) parts like the hose which split because I over stretch it one too many times. Can't really fault it for that though.
I have had wood floors everywhere now so make do with a dirt cheap hoover but if I had carpets I would buy another Dyson without question. It did such a fantastic job and maintenance was as easy could be.
I 2nd his recommendation of Miele for canisters. Very high quality and excellent filtration. And if you read the Whirlpool forum, there also a ton of people who have switched over to Miele after using Dyson vacuums.
You're in the "dyson love" period. It'll wear off, then it'll be:
a) they go wrong which happens very often with uprights from experience. The hose goes as does the roller belts and the motor. Also on multiple models, the clips on the can are so bad that the moment you detach it from the unit, it pours its suckings all over the floor again. All parts are expensive.
b) they suck the wallpaper off or the floor tiles up causing damage.
c) you do your back in hoovering with the damn things as they weigh so much.
Bought a Numatic Henry and have been happy ever since, and considerably better off.
If you point your vacuum at a wall and wallpaper comes off the wall or vaccuum the floor and tile comes up, I do not think the vacuum is the problem.
If you want to be upset with someone/something it seems like you should be upset at whomever did the crappy WP job or yourself for pointing a vacuum at something you did not want sucked up.
"you do your back in hoovering with the damn things as they weigh so much."
My Dyson is the lightest upright I've ever owned. It's also far-more maneuverable requiring less lifting since it can usually navigate around furniture.
My only complaint is the angle of the hose when using the attachments. Since the hose comes straight-up, if I'm trying to clean something low, I find the angle to be awkward for that purpose, and it sometimes interrupts the air-flow to the hose. I'd prefer the hose come out at an angle, or perhaps pivot on a swivel as its used.
I have a Dyson DCO7 which was manufactured in 2001 (my gran bought it and I inherited it).
It is literally as good as the day I got it, I recently had to "service" it (removing two foam filters with two clips and run them under the tap is hardly servicing) and that is the only time I've had to do anything to it in over a decade.
They cost more but are worth absolutely every penny, they also prove that a focus on quality, design and longevity can command a margin that customers will happily pay if you can get that message across.
I think you'll be sadly disappointed if you buy a new Dyson.
My wife and I bought one about a year ago. It was great for a week, but now suction is average and we are constantly having to remove and clean various filters to get it to work well.
I suspect Dyson did use to focus on quality, design and longevity but that a few years ago they started selling quite average vacuums but still charging a premium for their "good name".
FWIW, I bought one in Nov 2012 and have been delighted. Not a clogged filter or any other issue in that time. Not saying Dyson's are the best vacuum you can buy but it's not as if your experience here with a later model is unanimous.
Given that 50 million domestic workers are employed worldwide in people's homes, perhaps many people won't actually waste their time worrying about the "privacy" implications of a device which presumably isn't designed to upload video, but instead receive smartphone instructions.
> Available for free on IOS and Android platforms, the Dyson Link app allows you to control and schedule how and when your Dyson 360 Eye™ robot vacuum cleans. It enables you to view maps of cleaning progress, even when you're not at home. It activates your 2 year guarantee, automatically downloads software updates and, should you ever need them, provides access to troubleshooting guides.
So… A device that’s remotely controllable (and updateable) from Dyson’s central server. With a built-in 360° camera.
I kid, but it does say "The Dyson Link app may not be available in all markets.", so I'm assuming that it will not require an internet connection to function properly.
I really want to know how this compares with the LG Roboking. Inevitably, all the comparisons (especially those in Dyson's own marketing) will be with Roomba, which has terrible AI, terrible suction, terrible range and hasn't significantly changed since the first version released in 2002.
Back in 2002, the "insect" AI was actually quite innovative, and necessary for the computing power available at the time, but it's not 2002 anymore.
The latest Robokings are much closer to the Dyson in terms of AI (possibly better as details on the Dyson are still a bit vague). For example, it will map out a route through multiple rooms. If it needs to recharge, it will return to its base station and pick up where it left off. Unlike the Roomba, it does not use a random pattern so it will generally achieve about 97% coverage, compared to about 75% coverage for Roomba. It will also do it in roughly half the time.
The Dyson will likely have better suction, but presumably it still won't be good enough to completely replace a standard vacuum, so that may not matter at all. I think the things that matter most in a robot vacuum are:
- Can it clean multiple rooms efficiently, recharge itself when necessary and pick up where it left off after emptying its dust compartment?
- How quickly can it do that?
- How much noise does it make when it's running?
- Will it avoid getting trapped on rugs, curtains, under couches, etc?
Ideally, it should empty its own dust compartment too. As far as I know, Karcher make the only robovac that does this and I'm not sure how it stacks up in other areas. Plus it is really, really expensive.
Bit off topic which I know isn't viewed well here but down vote if my comment angers you profoundly.
My sister recently finished a MSc in Robotics and is looking for work in the UK for Dyson or a similar company. If anyone has worked in Dyson or a similar company (established or startup) and would be willing to discuss her options for applying in the industry and provide some guidance could you please e-mail me at hans@hans.is?
This is the first scroll to navigate page I've encountered that worked for me at all. I can see from the comments that others are not having as much luck. This new trend seems to be a horrible waste of time (for both devs and end users). I hope it goes away soon. The page is kind of cool if it works though.
As for Dysons, my parents are on their second one. The first one still mostly works, but a small clip in the back broke off. It will no longer stand up on its own. I have a small hand held one and it is really quite nice. They are definitely a bit fragile, but when they work they really work well.
Any task that humans really hate to do, but like or need to have done.
In one giant category: cleaning. That includes dusting, cleaning walls and ceilings, cleaning showers and tubs and toilets, cleaning windows.
Cooking food. Starting initially from simple things, evolving to more elaborate combinations. Chef3000 can now cook over 500 things! Self-cleaning!
Mowing the grass. Some companies are already deep into trying to solve this of course.
A total laundry system (this is decades away from being practical, and may require the classic sci-fi robot that does everything). Give the system the clothing, it sorts and understands fabrics and colors, or can be trained to identify specific clothing, washes it, dries it, folds it.
The total laundry system strikes me as something that's unlikely to be first deployed in a domestic setting. The initial iterations will be large enough and expensive enough that they'll need to be installed in malls, streets, airports, etc as a kind of very large vending machine: dump your stuff into the chute, swipe credit card, come back in 90 mins.
Cleaning bathrooms is horrible. I don't know why we haven't built bathrooms that can be sealed, towels/art put in a cupboard, and then a button pushed to pressure spray the interior and blow dry it. Waterproofed components, lighting and cabinetry wouldn't be impossible.
We pay a cleaner mostly because the bathroom is little joy to clean.
> I don't know why we haven't built bathrooms that can be sealed, towels/art put in a cupboard, and then a button pushed to pressure spray the interior and blow dry it.
I recall that Buckminster Fuller tried to build that sort of bathroom: the idea was that it'd be basically a one-piece metal thing with no seams or cracks for mold/dirt and all rounded corners, so one could just spray it down. I guess it didn't work for the same reason a lot of his ideas never got picked up.
There are self-cleaning public toilets in many places these days.
I think it would be possible if the right suppliers set their minds to it. I guess it requires the spraying and drying technology and that won't exist until the bathroom hardware itself exists, and that won't change until the spraying/drying is an option.
there used to be public toilets like that in my town.
The first I used it I fell in love and I've been dreaming of a similar setup at home (minus the obscenity on the wall, probably)
Catadioptric omnidirectional vision is a really cool technique. I've always wondered why it isn't seen in the wild more often. I first saw this technique being used in Robocup Midsize League [1]. There's lots of good papers on doing localization and object detection with a distributed system of robots with omnidirectional cameras from that league.
So, the HN comments are pretty much negative. People seem to be overlooking the most important thing. A hugely successful product in this category will be the spark that launches the home robotics revolution. More players, more money invested, etc.
I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.
Well, I think this already happened. About half the families I know have a Roomba robot vacuum or a knockoff.
But it's a big step from vacuuming floors to mowing lawns with sharp blades.
I don't personally have a leaf problem, but I would very much like to see a clever window-washing robot. Could be -- would preferably be! -- very slow and small. Something that runs constantly and could go home and charge/clean itself.
A sibling bot could clean bathtubs and sinks (and I would love to see toilets added to that list, but that may be a bridge too far).
I think robot vacuums are pretty established, but fall short of constituting a 'revolution'.
My parents had one for about a year now. They use it to mow their huge garden. It has worked extremely well throughout this summer.
It got stuck maybe three or four times at the start of summer, when they were playing around with the boundaries to make sure it gets to as many places as possible and doesn’t push itself outside the boundaries because of some tight spot. It seems those problems are solved now. Maintenance is checking the blades every couple of weeks (and exchanging broken or dull ones once or twice a year) and brushing it off a bit.
These mowing robots have been around for decades now. You basically lay a cable (on the surface or slightly underground) all around your garden and big, permanent obstacles and set up a charging station.
Depending on the size of your garden the mower drives around several hours a day, several days a week. During this it is practically completely quiet. Whatever it cuts off it just leaves on the grass. Since it is permanently cutting that’s not an issue at all and not even noticeable.
It basically drives around randomly, but maybe has features like focusing on a certain area when it encounters especially thick grass somewhere. (I think newer ones have GPS, too, but this hasn’t really been necessary at all in my parent’s case.)
The mower will automatically shut down when it bumps into something (and it will try to find another way around it) and it will also stop when lifted up.
My parent’s robot always found back to its charging station on its own this summer, except those couple times it got stuck when they were still experimenting with boundaries. And that’s despite my parents having a quite complicated and large garden.
The result is a lawn that looks better than ever before (basically always like it was just mowed) and extremely even. Also, my parents can now focus on the gardening they actually enjoy (and they aren’t the youngest anymore, which is not ideal if you have to mow a huge garden manually).
I don’t think I would want this robot driving around with a toddler on the lawn, but that’s about it.
This problem is solved and robots do an excellent job.
I didn't realize mowing robots had become so practical! Have you considered doing a writeup? Laying out a map of the garden, photos of how rough the terrain is, some video of the robot doing its work, maybe a full layout of all costs vs the time & cost of a regular lawnmower etc? I'd definitely upvote a submission of that.
Looks great. I don't know why I didn't know about these yet (well, most likely because I live in an apartment with no lawn), but thanks to you and patrickk in this thread I do. (His video link is very informative, btw).
A robo-mower would have indeed made a better housewarming gift for my sister than the cordless Dyson I bought her (same as mine)... although it would have set me back $2,300 instead of $300.
Still, very cool.
OK floors and lawns, ✓ DONE! Next somebody please point me to the already-existing window-washing robot.
That's it! That's the mower I've been waiting all my life for!
How fast does it go? What's it powered by? I imagined when this got invented it'd go real slow, and be solar powered so it never had to stop. But this one is cool too.
It mows for about two hours and charges its battery for about two hours. The charging station has to be connected to power. It drives slowly. Watch a YouTube video. They all go at a very sedate speed. If your garden is smaller than the recommended size for a robot then it should be no issue all.
Sure, it is slow, but eight or so hours of work time five days a week will get your lawn mowed. And, again, since it’s silent it’s not really an issue that it’s driving around. (But maybe don’t get one if you have pets or toddlers.)
Not all gardens are ideal. Many inclines lead to problems, as do thin connecting paths between different parts of the garden. But if your garden is quite straightforward (or even quite a bit more complicated then that) it’s not an issue.
Digging in the boundary cable is quite a bit of work (as you can imagine) and fiddling with it to make it all work perfectly, too, but I think my parents still spent less time taking care of the lawn last summer when they set it up than when they still had to mow. (Also, only the places where my parents were overly ambitious and wanted it to do things not recommended in the manual were there actual issues.)
If you have lawn going right up to some sort of wall or fence you will be left with a thin stripe of unmowed grass. My parents just quickly mow that every couple weeks, it’s not a big deal.
This tech has been around for decades, so it’s pretty proven. Besides my parents I know a couple other people who use it.
I've always imagined that a window washing robot would have a motorised internal component and a magnetically connected external piece. You'd put it on a window and let it go. If you walked past and noticed it not moving but still charged, you'd swap it to another window.
Obvious flaws (need two people to set it up - one inside and one out) but might work.
How else could you do it? Couldn't trust suction caps on a dirty surface.
I'd like a low-speed dog-and-kid-friendly mowing bot. A sort of solar-powered turtle that just chews the grass down, wandering around all its life inside an electric fence.
> I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now
I think about this every time I mow my lawn. I had this crazy vision:
Take a flatbed trailer and hook up "charging pods".
Invest in some robot lawn mowers. This would be fun as they'll probably need to be built yourself. They could have a deck size of whatever (12" ?) with big batteries, solar collectors (maybe), wireless communications, some kind of camera or a way to "see" obstacles.
Deploy multiple ones at a single site... maybe 4 on a .25 acre lot?
Have them all communicate with relative proficiency in determining who should mow where and what and for how long.
Once they are all done, they go back to the trailer and into their pod where they will charge until the next site.
Then go from site to site like any other lawn care specialist.
On each location you would have a couple human operators (who will also be driving the trailers). These people will operate the more delicate things like trimming. They will also provide a human element for analyzing the environment. Is there a dog outside? Maybe the operator has a smart phone and "tags" that object which gets transferred to the mowers and they know to avoid it.
If you could get the price down far enough it might be able to compete in a number of markets.
> If you could get the price down far enough it might be able to compete in a number of markets.
It's going to have be really cheap to compete with minimum wage labour. Especially since minimum wage labour is discarded when it goes wrong whereas your expensive robots will need expensive servicing.
> I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.
Robot floor cleaners have existed for some time and are probably one of the more common and visible consumer applications of robotics, the latter two are more complex because the outdoors environment is less predictable.
I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.
Eh, they are? It's not like this is the first of its kind. As far as I can see its claim to fame is a more powerful suction device, the other features already exist in other products.
No, they're not. Smartphones existed before the iPhone. And cars existed before Henry Ford too. There's the first to market companies then there's the company that creates the product that pushes it into the mainstream.
At least in Sweden, robot vacuum cleaners and lawn mowers have been mainstream tech for years. It's not just some enthusiast thing, a large portion of house owners have these things.
Your conversion is probably more-accurate. I was just going with Google's conversion, but if you compare pricing for currently-available Dyson models in the US and the UK, the conversion-rate is closer to 1:1 after available US discounts.
OP was probably referring to the fact that things sold in the UK are generally more expensive than the US. Something sold in the US for $100 might be £100 in the UK, even though the conversion rate would have you think it should be £60.
Basic roombas handle stairs and overhangs, you just need a very basic IR rangefinder on the circumference, if a finder or two "loses ground" there's probably a hole, treat as a wall.
"This unique 360° vision system uses complex mathematics, probability theory, geometry and trigonometry to map and navigate a room. So it knows where it is, where it’s been and where it’s yet to clean."
I hate the "Oh, why don't we use slightly complex words to make the consumers feel impressed" marketing practice. Like when shampoo ads use phrases like "advanced [made-up-word] technology."
Edit: That was a bit grumpier than it should have been. I haven't had coffee yet.
I have heard multiple people to complain that Roombas are just wandering around randomly. It's worth to note that none of these complainers had a Roomba at home, so the issue might only be a perceived one. But nevertheless in marketing these things count, and who knows? Maybe Dyson tried it and found the sensored version superior in engineering terms too.
So on one hand you have people complaining about 'random movements', and you have an automated vac which doesn't do that. How do you communicate this? The feature is clearly important enough for them to put it in the name. It's not called Dyson TankTrack or Dyson DoubleBristle, it's called Dyson 360 Eye.
So they could say: "doesn't move randomly" but that's probably not true, and doesn't sound any good. Quite likely it falls back to random wandering to re-locate from a kidnaped-robot situation. Besides negative statements ought to be avoided because they focus the costumer on what you don't have, instead of what you have. (at least so it goes the marketing wisdom)
They could also just say: "does SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping)" would be accurate, and would be totally cryptic for anyone who is not in the know.
Of course I haven't tested the robot, but if it does what they imply, then the consumer shouldn't feel impressed because of the complex words. They should feel impressed because this is impressive. Does it vacuum better? Who knows, we will see.
> I have heard multiple people to complain that Roombas are just wandering around randomly.
The roombas do, as far as I know, mostly wander randomly. Not only (they'll also follow walls and stuff), but they most definitely don't map a room plan which they methodically go through, they don't have the sensors to.
There are other vacuums with room mapping (samsung's navibot), I'm not aware that they do better than roombas in the long run (although they probably pass over each spot at least once per session, which roombas don't necessarily do)
Eh, everyone does this. I see HNers do it all the time adding "with machine learning" to some otherwise mundane problem to make it sound more interesting/impressive.
As a web developer and web user I completely refuse to tell you, otherwise I worry you might copy this horrendous site design elsewhere.
This is a site anti-pattern (at least at desktop resolution). The site is only readable when I shrink the browser down until that terrible animated nonsense goes away.
HTML5 video, I'm sure. They used that on the Mac Pro website too - they had two videos for each 'image', one forward, and one in reverse. Some JS playback controls linked to scrolling, and that's pretty much it. Very nice results though.
It's a series of images and videos is looks like. The video plays and then overlays an image (in the exact location that the video ended) on each scroll/navigation.
I expect this is a the top of HN because people are interested in hacking their Dyson robot and write some custom Anroid/iOS apps to control it? Otherwise, it's a vacuum, or is this some type of sponsored Sears post I don't know about?
Unreliable, expensive parts, poor design and now they're introducing more technology and robotics!?!
I've owned a few Dyson products - totally horrid. Never again. The only positive think I can say is that their service department sends out parts quickly.
Scrolling takes many seconds to just show the next page, with no indication that anything is happening. Just blank blackness.
Then each page requires you to hunt and click little circles with pluses in them, just to show a paragraph or two of copy.
Would it have killed them to just present all the text at once? Perhaps use tabs or some other "normal" solution to the problem of wanting to talk about different aspects of a product? This whole "scroll to begin" paradigm is so annoying, I think the fact that they felt they had to include that little helper just to tell people how to get to the content is an indication that perhaps a better design exists.
Still, I'm glad that there's a robotic vacuum cleaner with better optical bandwidth than humans. I'm sure that's a major selling point in (robotic) vacuums.
Using Chrome here, it straight up didn't work. After reading the comments, I resized my browser and there it was. Still couldn't scroll using the scroll wheel on my mouse.
I'm normally someone who complains about this, but I didn't notice anything like that with this page. I see a regular scrollbar on the side and scrolling with the wheel happens as it should.
What system are you using?
PS: Ah, I just noticed that this changes mode when the browser window reaches a certain width. Below that it's quite comfortable to use.
I was thinking the opposite - navigates on scroll down as I expected and joy-of-joys it's in the magazine style (that has an actual name I forget), but unlike most it doesn't hijack the back button.
I agree that it should degrade more gracefully, but I'm curious what platform you're on? I've tried it (the wide HTML5 video version) in Chrome and Firefox on Windows and Linux, and didn't have any trouble.
They claim that avoiding vacuuming the same area twice saves power, but is that true in every situation? Math-wise, it seems possible for a self-avoiding path (with thickness) to be _longer_ than a similar path (with thickness) that does self-intersect, so the vacuum is on longer, so it actually consumes more power.
Edit: And if you do go over the same spot twice, you should be able to detect that with your navigation system so that you can turn the brushes and suction off or something.
[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6ReNFlxqJc