iRobot has unveiled the biggest software update for its robot vacuum cleaners since the company was founded 30 years ago: a new artificial intelligence platform known as iRobot Genius Home Intelligence. Or, as iRobot CEO Colin Angle describes it, "It's a lobotomy and a replacement for intelligent systems in all of our robots."
The platform is part of the company's new product development concept. As robot vacuums become a commodity available for less than $200 from many companies, iRobot wants to make its products stand out from the competition in order to sell for more.
“Imagine that a janitor came to your house, and you can’t talk to him,” said Mr. Angle. “You can't tell him when to come and where to clean up. You would be very upset! The same thing happens with robots. These were the first robotic vacuum cleaners. You pressed the button and they did their job, for better or worse. However, with the help of AI, users can more precisely determine what they want. Autonomy does not mean intelligence - we want to ensure effective interaction between the user and the robot.
The company has been going in this direction for some time: in 2018, for example, robots received mapping support. The system allows compatible Roomba units to create a home map where users can designate specific rooms and direct the robot to clean on demand. The Home Intelligence update, which includes a redesigned iRobot app, will make even more precise cleaning possible. iRobot claims this is exactly what people want when they are indoors and want to clean up a little mess in one part of the house or another.
Compatible Roombas will not only display the home, but will also be able to use machine vision and built-in cameras to identify pieces of furniture in the home, such as sofas, tables and kitchen counters. When the robot registers these objects, it will prompt the user to add them to their map as "clean zones" - certain areas of the house to which Roomba can be directed to clean through an application or a connected digital assistant like Alexa using a simple voice assistant.
“For example, after the kids have finished eating, it’s the perfect time to give the command ‘Clean under the dinner table’ because there are crumbs everywhere under it, but you don’t need to clean the entire kitchen,” said iRobot Product Director Keith Hartsfield.
To create the necessary machine vision algorithms, iRobot collected tens of thousands of images from employees' homes to see what furniture looked like from the floor. “When our robot collected this data, it had a bright green sticker on it so that users would not forget and wander around the house in their underwear,” Mr. Engle said. According to him, his data collection company's fleet of robots was probably second only to Tesla.
In addition to "clean zones", the updated Roomba also defines "no-go zones". If the robot continues to get stuck among cables, such as under a TV stand, it will prompt users to mark the location as an area to avoid in the future. All this can be configured in the application and manually.
Event-based automation is also possible. If the user wants Roomba to quickly vacuum when they leave the house, they can connect the app to a smart lock or location service like Life360. The vacuum cleaner will automatically know when to start cleaning. Other new features include customizable preset cleaning routines, recommended cleaning schedules based on user habits, seasonal cleaning schedules such as more frequent vacuuming when the animal is shedding or during allergy season.
However, these features will not be available on all Roomba. Only Roomba i7, i7+, s9 and s9+ and robomop Braava jet m6 will be able to customize specific areas and offer new cleaning schedules. Other features, such as event-based automation and favorite cleaning routines, will be available to all other Roomba connected to Wi-Fi.
The company strives to reassure customers that the data it collects is confidential. Any images captured by the iRobot never leave the device and are not even saved for more than a few seconds. Instead, they turn into abstract maps. The company encrypts the robot's software, making it harder to hack, but the manufacturer claims that even if an attacker breaks into a customer's device, they won't find anything of interest on it.
iRobot promises that all this is just the beginning of the development of the artificial intelligence features of Roomba vacuum cleaners. This is both encouraging and somewhat frightening - especially if, in the future, robots begin to claim dominance in our homes.
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Source: 3dnews.ru