The core of the latest Rumba was "a strategy that speaks to numbers"! Carefully explain the evolution of the topical model "j7" that avoids feces

IRobot Japan has released new robot vacuum cleaners "Rumba j7+" and "Rumba j7" from February 10th. The actual selling price is 129,800 yen (tax included) for the "Rumba j7+" that comes with the clean base of the automatic garbage collector, and 99,800 yen (same as above) for the "Rumba j7" that does not come with the clean base. The outline of the new product has already been covered in the previous article, but this time, we will report on the state of the demonstration for the media held in Tokyo.

Dare to hit method to avoid method

The biggest feature of the Rumba j7 series is Rumba's first obstacle avoidance function. At the initial stage, the front camera recognizes cables such as power cords, earphones, charging cords for smartphones, slippers, socks, shoes, charging stations for Roomba, and pet excrement (solid, hereinafter referred to as feces), before colliding. to avoid.

Rumba so far has dared to adopt the "hit" method. This is because the idea was that the rumba would hit walls and table legs, scraping out and sucking up even the dust at the edges of obstacles. With the obstacle avoidance method, garbage may remain on the walls and furniture legs, and in the case of a sofa with a cover, the cover may be judged as an obstacle and "turn right". . However, in the case of the previous Roomba, you can push up the sofa cover and crawl under the sofa to clean it.

However, with the conventional "hit" method, the rotating brush caught the earphone cord and smartphone charging cord that fell on the floor, making it impossible for the Roomba to move. There were many inconveniences, such as running over and becoming a catastrophe that you can't even look at. In order to solve such a problem, we decided to install an obstacle avoidance function for the first time this time.

Collect data of feces and run simulation

Roomba j7 is equipped with data such as power cords and pet feces in advance, and avoids obstacles found during cleaning. programmed to do so. There is a wide variety of pet droppings. Dogs and cats are different in size, shape and color. Large dogs and small dogs are quite different, and even the same dog can vary depending on the day's physical condition.

For this reason, iRobot collected 3D data of various sizes, colors, and shapes of feces and conducted a huge simulation. As a result, we have succeeded in distinguishing between large and small feces for dogs and cats and avoiding them. If pet feces adhere during cleaning, the roomba body will be repaired or replaced free of charge only once during the manufacturer's warranty period, so it is confident in the avoidance program. I can tell.

Choose how to deal with each obstacle on the app

By the way, obstacles that Roomba j7 finds and avoids during cleaning, including pet droppings, are displayed on the app after cleaning. You can check the image and location information. The user can choose how to deal with obstacles while looking at this report image.

For temporary objects such as socks that have fallen on the floor, select "Temporary obstacles are here", remove the obstacles, and then click " If you select "Clean again", you can instruct it to clean again only the place where the obstacle was dropped.

On the other hand, if you want to avoid areas such as power taps next time, select "Add no-entry areas" and avoid cleaning them next time. At that time, the range of the prohibited area can be specified arbitrarily on the application. In other words, if you specify appropriate measures for each obstacle, such as "Avoid this code (= do not enter this area)" or "Ignore this and OK", you will be able to It will do the best cleaning for your room.

If you select "Send to database" when selecting these countermeasures, photos of obstacles and countermeasures will be sent to iRobot's cloud (optional, but not required). As a result, a lot of obstacle data is collected from all over the world, and Rumba's brain learns and becomes smarter and smarter. The results of learning from user feedback are installed in each roomba by updating about once every three months. IRobot boasts that this system is a strength unique to Roomba, which is sold in more than 60 countries around the world and boasts a cumulative sales volume of more than 40 million units. Certainly, the strategy of collecting data by letting numbers speak is advantageous the more users there are. In that sense, it can be said that iRobot is maximizing and returning the assets of its users.

Rumba j7 has already been released in the United States about four months before Japan, but it was based on feedback from US users during this time that it became possible to avoid shoes, socks, and slippers. It is said to be a learning effect. Regarding pet droppings, currently only dogs and cats are covered by the warranty, but due to user feedback like this, we may avoid small animals such as rabbits and ferrets in the future and may be covered by the warranty. .

You can save specific routines as "favorites"

Another thing, j7 learns the layout of the house and furniture placement, just like the top model Roomba s9 + and the previous model Roomba i7. You can create and save maps to efficiently clean your home. By saving the map, you can also clean only a specific room, clean a part of the room, conversely, not clean only a specific room, or not clean a part of the room. Easy to set up with the app.

It is also possible to save a certain routine as a "favorite". For example, if you create a favorite command named "meal" to clean only the kitchen and dining table area after eating, the command will be completed with a single touch. You can freely set a number of commands, such as cleaning only around the sofa with the favorite "movie", or cleaning only around the pet feeding zone with "kitty". It is very easy and appreciated that Roomba automatically moves to the intended place with one touch without specifying the area you want to clean from scratch.

The Roomba j7 is also compatible with smart speakers, so if you speak to the smart speaker, for example, "Clean the cats", it will automatically run your favorite content. In addition, while avoiding temporary obstacles, it avoids places that should not be entered, so it is very easy to leave it to the cleaning.

Clean base and body design have also changed significantly

In addition, the shape of the clean base has changed from Roomba j7+. It used to have a vertically long shape, but from this time it has a horizontally long shape, and the height is about 15 cm lower than the conventional model Roomba i7 +. This is also in response to the user's request to put it under the low counter or low shelf. Originally, since it requires the space of the main body of the rumba as the width, there is no problem even if the vertical one is horizontal.

By making the clean base horizontal, another merit was born. I was able to secure a space to put a spare paper pack. The clean base can store garbage for up to about 60 days, but about 2 months is surprisingly long, and it's easy to forget where you put the spare paper pack. However, if it is stored in the clean base, it is convenient to replace it with a spare one immediately.

In addition, the design of the main unit has also changed significantly. The absence of a camera on the top surface makes it cleaner and easier to clean. Roomba i7 had a button for spot cleaning and returning to the base in addition to the start button, but Roomba j7 has a simple design with only one button, long press to return to the base, spot cleaning is an application operation. .

The Roomba j7 series is easier to install and easier to customize cleaning with the app. In the future, data from users around the world will make us even smarter and help us avoid many “don’ts”. Especially for households with pets, spilling feces has been a big hurdle to introduce a robot vacuum cleaner, but there is no doubt that the appearance of the j7 series has greatly lowered that hurdle. Personally, I would like to avoid cat vomit as well, but with the accumulation of data, that may be possible in the near future.