What Is Robot Vacuums With Lidar And Why Is Everyone Speakin' About It?
Robot Vacuums With Lidar Make Cleaning Easier
A robot vacuum can map its environment in order to avoid obstacles and navigate efficiently. This technology is similar to the one used in self-driving cars and aerospace.
Simple robots have bump sensors that prevent them from scuffing up your paint or scratching your chair legs, but more advanced navigation systems such as Lidar and SLAM are much better at avoiding the unexpected. This technology is costly.
Lidar
Lidar, or light detection range is the most significant improvement in robot vacuums in the past decade. Lidar is a sensor that sends out laser beams and measures the time it takes them to return to the sensor, which converts the data into accurate distance measurements that can be used to map. Lidar makes it much easier for robots to navigate and avoid objects particularly in low-light environments.
Even though most modern robot vacuums have some kind of obstacle detection, some are still struggling with charging cords, socks and other everyday household items that easily get caught on the floor. The issue is that a poor obstacle detection system can hamper the cleaning efficiency of a robot vac and result in a lot of wasted time in which you need to stop the robovac and manually remove the object it got stuck on.
The top robot vacuums that use lidar have powerful object detection capabilities that will ensure that your floors are clean and free of knots and other debris. These vacuums are also less likely to be caught on furniture legs or other obstacles that are common in hallways or tight spaces.
Certain robots with lidars also have digital keep-out zones which allow you to create an imaginary boundary on a map to deter your robovac from cleaning specific areas of your apartment or home. This is great for preventing your vacuum from accidentally cleaning up the costly area rug or the cat litter box.
Another benefit of a model with lidar is the ability to identify stairs better. While getting a robot to climb steps isn't an easy task, a lot of models with lidar can climb them without difficulty.
Other sensors that you may want to look for in a robot equipped with lidar include infrared sensors, which are used to detect furniture and walls and help it navigate the surrounding; 3D ToF sensors, that use reflected infrared light to detect objects and calculate their position and cliff sensors which notify the vac if it is too close to the edge of a staircase to prevent it from falling off.
Gyroscopes
In contrast to lidar, which employs lasers to scan your space and map it out, gyroscopes rely on sensors that rotate to prevent the robot from crashing into things. They are more commonly found in low-cost robots and work as a quick-spinning wheel that lets the vacuum know its position relative to obstacles. Some models can even use the gyroscope to create a basic home map which is helpful for keeping the track of your home and for cleaning up more thoroughly.
SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping) is another popular navigation system for robot vacuums. It's available in a range of price points. This technique is used to create a 3D image of your room in order to form an accurate map and navigate through it in a rational manner. lidar vacuum robot is a major advancement over previous bounce-and-bang robots which would simply move through your space, bounce off anything they encountered until the job was completed.
In addition to forming maps, the majority of robots that make use of SLAM can display them in an app, so you can know where your cleaner is at any given time. You can also create no-go zones based on maps. This is especially helpful for homes that have a lot of furniture, since it isn't easy to figure out the location of everything without an actual home map.
While SLAM is effective in a majority of situations, it's not so good in detecting smaller obstacles, such as wires and cables that could get sucked into the vacuum's rotating brush. This is a major flaw, since many robots tend to suck up these items and damage them.
Fortunately, most robots that incorporate SLAM have obstacle detection technology, such as drop detectors. These sensors keep the vacuum from falling down stairs or other significant differences in flooring levels that could cause severe damage. Many robots also come with sensors for cliffs, which can be helpful if you own animals that leap over the robot to get its food or water dish. These sensors are usually located on the bumpers of the vac and emit a signal when the vac is within reach of something that might hurt it.
Wall Sensors
The ability of a robot vacuum to navigate your home is based on a combination sensors. A budget model might use bump sensors to sense obstacles, and a rotating light to illuminate walls, however the top models are more sophisticated, including self-navigation, mapping and self-navigation systems that allow for map saving (with some retaining or sending this information to a company) and digital keep-out zones that prevent robots from accidentally hitting cables or crashing furniture legs.
Certain robots employ SLAM or simultaneous localization mapping. They map the room before they begin cleaning, and refer to this map throughout the entire process. This makes them a lot more efficient as they know exactly where they've been and avoid repeating the same areas of the room. These maps can be shared and viewed within the robot's application. This is beneficial for setting zones for cleaning or no-go zones.
The other important navigation sensor you'll want to look for is the gyroscope. Gyroscopes depend on spinning wheels or a quickly-rotating beam of light to determine the distance between your robot and obstacles that may be in your home. They then use this data to create a virtual map that the bot can reference as it moves around your home. Without this technology, robots can get hung up on things like cords and rugs and tend to move around the floor instead of following the edges of rooms.
The most effective robots are outfitted with a variety of obstacles avoidance techniques, such as 3D structured lights, 3D Time of Flight (ToF) bi-cular or monocular vision, and LiDAR. The more advanced the technology, the more precise and intuitive your robot's navigation will be. This means that your robot can clean more thoroughly and with less effort, and you can establish zones where it's not allowed to enter to protect electronics and other valuable items. The newest generation of gyroscopes, which are more precise and operate well in dim lighting, can even detect changes in ambient lighting in your home to aid the robot see more effectively.
Optical Sensors
A robot vacuum that is equipped with lidar can create a 3D map to help you navigate your surroundings more efficiently and avoid hitting obstacles. It does this by releasing an laser beam that bounces off surfaces and returns to the sensor. The sensor measures the time it takes for the laser beam to return. This is translated into distance measurements and lets the robot draw an image of the layout of your room.
As opposed to cameras, which are utilized in certain robots to map rooms, lidar is faster and more accurate. Based on the model, a robot equipped with lidar could have the "no-go" zone feature that allows you to create areas that are off-limits for your robot. In our testing we found the top models that utilize this technology are the Neato Botvac D8 and iRobot Braava 350, which come with easy-to-setup "no-go" zones in the app.
iRobot Duo+, another great option, uses LiDAR and sensors to create an accurate map of your home that can be used for navigation. The app also gives you control over the mapping process, so you can alter the boundaries of your home if necessary.
Other technologies used to improve the robots' navigation include 3D structured light, which determines the distance of objects by looking for their reflective properties as well as 3D ToF (time of flight) which scans a room to determine the speed and direction of light reflections. Certain robots employ monocular or binocular vision in order to stay clear of objects.
All of these sensors are used together to aid the robots overcome obstacles in various ways. This is the reason these machines are so efficient. However, it's important to consider your individual requirements prior to purchasing a robot vacuum. Consider how much time it will take you to clean your floors, the number of obstacles you'll encounter in your home and whether you would like your robot to be able to do more. Once you know what features are most important to you, we suggest creating a budget that covers the cost of a robot that has the features you require.