Innovative Robot Vacuums: From Xbox-Level Processing to Quirky Design Features

This new robovac packs the processing power of an Xbox, but I'm mostly obsessed with its little fluffy tail

The Narwal Freo Z Ultra's features blend cutting-edge smarts with old-school cleaning principles The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is a new robot vacuum that has been unveiled at IFA 2024. It's "designed to tackle complex home messes", and to do so, Narwal has packed in a whole load of AI features... and added a little fluffy tail. I'll start with the techy bits. The Freo Z Ultra uses AI to avoid obstacles, adapt its cleaning process to the type and amount of dirt there is on the floor, and to choose which temperature to mop at. All that intelligence requires some serious processing power, and Narwal says it's equivalent to an Xbox in that respect. It comes with two separate CPUs - a main one and another dedicated just to AI. Today's best robot vacuums are increasingly clever, but the Freo Z Ultra has some features we've never seen before. For example, it's the first robovac on the market to feature two RGB cameras, rather than your standard 'one camera and a light' setup, enabling it to capture an 136-degree view at 1,600 x 1,200 resolution. That combines with dual AI chips to offer superior object identification (and avoidance, if necessary). Alongside those cutting-edge smarts is a more old-school addition: a baseboard cleaning tool, which is essentially a little fluffy tail that clips on to the side of the robovac and gently dusts your baseboards when it gets close to the edge of the room. It's an optional extra rather than being included as standard. I saw a demo and it's a super-simple but clever little innovation that adds an extra level of cleaning power. It also looks really cute. Back to the techy bit. Lots of high-end robovacs are designed to recognize common objects, but the Narwal's object-identification list is far longer than most, taking in over 120 common objects, from furniture legs to toys and even plastic bags. That means it can apply human-like cleaning decisions in response, delivering a more complete clean because it's not giving everything a wide berth by default. So if it identifies a chair leg, it knows to get as close to it as possible. In contrast, if the mess is a pet poop, it will navigate around it and absolutely not try to get as close as possible. For things like tissues and cables, it knows to retract the roller brush so it doesn't end up in a tangle. Better obstacle avoidance means you shouldn't have to tidy up before launching your robovac (good news, because the benefits of remote control are somewhat negated when your robovac ends up tangled in a rogue charging cable and in need of manual rescue 10 minutes into its cleaning routine). For the times when you do want to use it when you're home, it's designed to be even better at operating around people and pets, again thanks to AI. There's even a mode you can use where the robot will see a pet in one area of your home, and delay cleaning that area until the pet has moved on. It'll then deep-clean that area to get rid of any extra hair or general messes your pet might have made on its travels. There are more human-like features in the Freo Z Ultra's approach to cleaning. For example, it knows if the mess is dry or wet, and chooses the best cleaning approach in response. For dry cleanup jobs, it can unleash up to 12,000 PA of suction (about the highest we've seen on any robovac). In line with its aquatic name, Narwal has put more effort than most into the mopping side of things. Its rotating mops will applying downward pressure - up to 'an industry leading 12N' of it - to scrub off dirt. It'll also approach different floor types in different ways, so it'll add more water and apply more pressure when cleaning a ceramic tiled floor compared to a wooden one. If your hard floor is super dirty, it'll sense that, and extend mopping times in response. If that spillage is a heavy, dirty liquid, it'll just mop it and return to the dock to clean the mop pads afterwards. Alternatively, if it's clean enough to just need a light mop, it'll use less water too. Mopping temperature adjusts automatically between 45C and 75C, depending on the type of mess. So cooler water for dusty messes, hotter for greasy spillages. After cleaning, the temperature will rise to the maximum 75C anyway, to kill off bacteria (a process that Narwal refers to, accurately but unsettlingly, as 'pasteurization'). The smarter your home appliances get, the more security concerns start to seem like a real threat. To try and put people's minds at ease, Narwal's storage and computation chip operates entirely offline, with all information being stored within the robot itself (main CPU computation does use an internet connection, but is handled separately). The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is available to buy in the US for a list price of $1,499.99 (current early bird price $1,099.99) and Australia for AU$2,499 (current early bird price AU$2,099).

6 cool new robvac features coming your way, from quad bike-style suspension to magnetic mops

IFA - the world's biggest consumer and electronics show - is in full swing in Berlin, and a number of brands have taken the opportunity to show off their new robovacs. I've been on the floor getting some hands-on time with the latest models, and have been impressed with what I've seen. There are some innovative new features being introduced - as well as software-side innovations (AI, inevitably, is everywhere), there are some interesting hardware developments aimed at enabling these little home helpers to reach places that have previously been off-limits, as well as solutions to other issues that have so far limited their usefulness. I'm expecting some of these features to start becoming more common in our best robot vacuums guide before too long. Here's a quick look at the coolest new robovac innovations at IFA 2024... As seen on: Dreame L40 Even though many robot vacuums have the ability to raise their damp mop pads to try and keep them off your carpets, it's not a failsafe solution - particularly if your soft floors are especially plush. On its new L40 robovac, Dreame has decided to solve the problem by letting you remove them altogether. The mop pads are attached by magnets, so when you want to vacuum your carpet after a mop, you can tell the robovac to go back to the dock, and drop them before continuing its cleaning. And it can also pick them back up again as required - no manual intervention needed. (If you don't have deep-pile carpet, the side brush, main brush and mop pads can all move up and down by a centimeter or more, with different settings for different modes, to effectively separate the mopping and vacuuming processes. But that's much less fun.) As seen on: Roborock Qrevo Curv Another issue that can limit the usefulness of a robot vacuum is its ability to navigate big differences in floor height. While we're still a way off from a robot vac that can climb stairs, we're starting to see models that are much better at handling uneven terrain. Qrevo Curv has the suspension system of a boy racer car. Flip it over and you'll find three wheels, each of which can be independently adjusted by up to a centimeter, enabling the Curv to reach a maximum clearance height of 4cm. So that room with a double-height entrance will no longer be off-limits, and your ultra-thick rug won't pose a problem either. As seen on: Narwal Freo Z Ultra (and many others) It's no surprise that one of the themes of IFA is AI. Or, more specifically, AI appearing in places you wouldn't expect it. (I will not use the word 'shoehorn'.) The Narwal Freo Z Ultra is far from the only robot vacuum to use AI, but it's perhaps the one that goes hardest on this front. It has two separate CPUs - one dedicated solely to AI - and packs equivalent processing power to an Xbox. That AI is used to help the Freo Z Ultra avoid obstacles, and to adjust its cleaning approach based on context. So that's everything from using hotter water to clean greasy spillages on hard floors, to knowing which obstacles to get right up close to (chair legs) and which to give a wider berth (dog poop). As seen on: Dreame L40 How to prevent long hair tangling up your brushrolls is an issue for manual vacuum cleaners and robot vacs alike (it's one of the factors we look for when deciding the best robot vacuums for pet hair). Dreame has decided to stop messing around, and introduced an accessory that promises to eradicate the problem once and for all. The 'TriCut' brush literally has a little pair of scissors in it, which snip up long hair before it enters the bin, so there's no chance of it getting tangled in the mechanics. Note, this isn't part of the L40, but an optional accessory aimed at hairy households. As seen on: Shark PowerDetect With its new robot vacuum launch, Shark has ported some of the most popular features found in today's best Shark vacuums. So there are five different detection capabilities - dirt detect, edge detect, wet edge detect, stain detect, and floor detect - and the PowerDetect will adjust its cleaning approach in response. So when it shifts to hard floor from carpet it knows to lower its suction, and when it encounters the edge of a room where dirt tends to build up, it'll amp up its suction to ensure that all gets cleared away. I saw it being demoed, and could hear it ramping up and down as it encountered areas of heavy spillages or reached the edge of the demo space. The aim is a more efficient clean, without wasting battery unecessarily. As seen on: Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI+ Rather than unveiling something brand new, Samsung is using IFA to show off the Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI+, which has just gone on sale recently (we're in the process of testing it on team - full review incoming). An interesting (using the term loosely) feature here is the addition of a steam cleaning at the base station, to sterilize the mop pads, generally make things more hygienic, and lower the risk of a stinky robot. Elsewhere, AI is getting a look-in again. Here, it's being used to identify objects, humans and pets, as well as being employed to help with initial room mapping - so the Bespoke Jet Combo can identify appliances and furniture and add them to your maps, as well as suggesting names for different spaces. This robovac can also sense how thick a carpet is, so it can deliver effective cleaning as well as avoiding getting it damp with the mop pads. If you're already in the Samsung ecosystem, you'll be pleased to learn that the Bespoke Jet Bot connects to SmartThings - Samsung's smart home management app - for convenient control from a single location.