Can a robot vacuum cleaner fall down the stairs?

The household appliances market continues to delight housewives with more and more new devices that greatly simplify their lives. One striking example of this is robotic vacuum cleaners. They allow you to carry out both dry and wet cleaning of premises without requiring special attention.

Can a robot vacuum cleaner fall down the stairs in a two-story house?

Manufacturers often like to promote in the market race that their devices have one or another unique function. Often this is completely wrong. The following features tend to be particularly attractive:

• A light touch that prevents the device from damaging furniture.

However, not all robots have additional rubber protection along the edges, which, even if the light touch function fails, will not allow it to collide sharply with the furniture around it.

• Independent return to base. It's normal for robots if they can't connect to the base the first time - they'll keep trying until they succeed. Models in the cheapest segment, which often have a weak battery installed, as a result of which they simply do not have enough charge to get to the base, can only have this function “on paper”.

The base must be installed so that the device can independently reach it when the battery is discharged or at the end of the cleaning cycle. He finds her using the infrared trace.

• Determining the level of height change. One of the most important functions for those whose house has several floors. The vacuum cleaner is equipped with several sensors that allow it to detect a sharp change in height, on average 1 cm from the edge.

Reference. These same sensors allow the device to understand whether it can climb onto an obstacle, such as a carpet. The maximum height that a robot vacuum cleaner can overcome on its own is on average 2 cm. Of course, it will not be able to climb the stairs without assistance, but nevertheless it will not fall, but will go around it.

How to protect a robot from falling if it does not recognize stairs?

There are times when the device cannot recognize the stairs. This is often due to the following reasons:

• Dirty sensors. For prevention, you should constantly wipe them, turning the device upside down.
• Rounded edges of steps. In this case, the performance of the sensors themselves deteriorates, and then the robot’s access to such a surface will have to be limited to avoid falling.
• Lost settings. This can happen either over time or due to a manufacturing defect. To fix it, you need to contact technical support.

Important! When you turn it on for the first time after purchase, you should monitor how the device is oriented in space to eliminate the possibility of a manufacturing defect.

The oldest and cheapest models often lack staircase recognition, but they can also be protected from falling. The same methods are suitable for cases of rounded steps and settings that have been lost over time. Such decisions include:

• virtual wall;
• magnetic tape.

Due to infrared radiation, the wall does not allow the robot vacuum cleaner to enter certain areas. It usually needs to be purchased additionally.

Magnetic tape is often included in the kit, but it can also be purchased in specialized stores. When he meets her, he turns around and moves in a different direction.

When purchasing equipment for a multi-story building, you should pay attention to whether it has a height recognition function, which may be missing in cheap or old models. Otherwise (or if the function suddenly fails), you can control access areas using magnetic tape or a virtual wall.