iRobot's robot vacuum cleaner "Roomba" has announced a new flagship model, the "Roomba 980". In Japan, sales will begin on October 10th at home electronics mass retailers and official online stores.

Rumba is known in Japan for more than 90%. It is said that the model to be released this time has the "best cleaning power" in the history of the series, but will it be a decisive hit for those who have been considering it for a long time? I saw the actual machine ahead of time at the product launch.


◆ Point 1: Make your own floor map

There are three main points for new products. First, the newly developed artificial intelligence "iAdapt 2.0 Visual Localization" was installed. In this system, the camera on the top of the main unit and the floor tracking sensor on the bottom are used to create a map of the entire floor and keep track of your position.



Based on the created map, it moves in parallel lines in an open space, and under furniture or in a messy environment, multiple sensors are used to change the movement pattern and continue cleaning without interruption. When you actually see this movement, it looks as if you are "visible" (see video). By the way, it seems that even if a cat gets on and blocks the camera or enters a dark place, it will work without problems.



The maximum cleanable area is 112 tatami mats (185 m ² ), which is significantly larger than the current model with a maximum of 25 tatami mats. It can be used not only at home but also in small offices. If you want to clean multiple rooms, you had to use the optional "Room Navi" to guide you with the conventional model, but with the Roomba 980, once you start cleaning, the entire floor is cleaned across the rooms (optional). It is also possible to set a limit on the cleaning range with the product). If the battery is about to run out on the way, go back home and charge it, then resume cleaning and finish.


It goes under furniture with a height of 10 cm or more, and even if the bedspread hangs down, it goes deeper. It's more reliable than doing it manually.


◆ Point 2: Automatically adjusts power according to the amount of carpet and dust

On the other hand, the cleaning ability has also been greatly improved. The powerful suction system "AeroForce cleaning system", which is a feature of the Roomba series, has been further strengthened, and a new "carpet boost" function has been installed. It detects the contents of the floor and automatically controls the suction power up to 10 times on the carpet.

In addition, the "dirt detect" function, which detects the amount of dust, efficiently cleans places with a particularly large amount of dust, such as going back and forth.


◆ Point 3: Operation is simple with the touch of a button, and can be operated on the go


To start cleaning, just press the "CLEAN" button on the main unit. Furthermore, by using the smartphone / tablet dedicated app "iRobot HOME", you can now operate Roomba even when you are away from home (the Japanese version will be released at the time of release). In addition to this, you can check the schedule for each day of the week, the specification of the cleaning mode, the cleaning history, etc. in the app. You can also set the birthday and name of Rumba, so it seems that you will be more attached to it.

The price you are interested in for the new Roomba is 125,000 yen (excluding tax). It's a lot more expensive than before, but the time created by leaving it to Roomba is definitely worth the money.