iRobot Brings Visual Mapping and Navigation to the Roomba 980

We’ve known for a while now that iRobot has been developing robots with wireless integration along with intelligent navigation capability based on VSLAM (Vision Simultaneous Localization and Mapping).

Now, iRobot is announcing the Roomba 980, which manages to cram everything new and amazing that we’ve been hoping for into one round little robot: Wi-Fi communication, remote control with a smartphone app, and (most importantly) VSLAM that allows the robot to navigate and vacuum larger spaces than before in satisfyingly straight lines. The new Roomba 980 is equipped with a camera that allows the robot to navigate using VSLAM (Vision Simultaneous Localization and Mapping). By moving around more efficiently, the robot can now cover an entire level of a home with multiple rooms.

You can connect the Roomba 980 to your home Wi-Fi network, and then download the iRobot Home app for iPhone or Android, which will allow you to set a cleaning schedule much more easily than through the buttons on top of the robot (iRobot research showed that many consumers found the scheduling functions too difficult to use, much like with the old VCRs). The app will also provide some basic information about the robot and help with troubleshooting, and there are options to set a few different behaviors, like multiple cleaning passes and what to do when the dust bin is full.

On top of the Roomba 980 there’s a camera pointed forward and up at what looks to be about 45 degrees. VSLAM is a way of dynamically building a map while keeping track of your own position at the same time. To create a map, the camera takes a picture, and then some fancy software looks for distinctive patterns of pixels in that picture.

Read more at IEEE Spectrum

Image Credit: iRobot

-jk-