The first robot vacuum cleaner

Robotic vacuum cleaners, which have become commonplace for a long time, were actually conceived a long time ago. In the 50s of the last century, the first ideas were voiced, as often happens, by science fiction writers. Then leading companies began production, and soon the idea was picked up by other developers of household appliances.

First mention in literature

In 1956, a book by writer Robert Heinlein entitled “The Door to Summer” was published. She tells us about an inventor who designs automatic household appliances for cleaning the house. Two years later, a similar device appeared in Nikolai Nosov’s book about Dunno.

In children's fiction there is an automatic cleaner called "Cybernetics".

The very history of robotic vacuum cleaners began much later, at the dawn of the millennium. Then leading companies producing electrical household appliances began developing automated vacuum cleaners integrated into the smart home system.

The first robot vacuum cleaner

Inspired by the ideas of science fiction writers, Electrolux designers began developing a prototype of modern devices. It was possible to present an innovative model only in 1997. The first prototype was shown on the BBC channel modern robot vacuum cleaner.

Serial production began only five years after it was shown on TV.

In 2004, not only Electrolux was involved in the production of devices; iRobot, which had previously been exclusively involved in developments for the space industry, joined it. Later, the idea was picked up by Karcher, Siemens, Samsung and LG.

The first devices worked until the dust collector built into the body of the model was filled to capacity. In this case, they stopped work, even if the room had not yet been completely cleaned.

In 2005, a new generation device was released. He weighed only two kilograms, but at the same time he knew how to build routes and independently determine when the garbage container was full. After that, he found the base and went to it to dump the garbage into the drive. During this time, it was additionally recharged and started working again.

Such a device completed cleaning only if the storage tank on the base was full or the cleaning cycle was completed.

Leader in the production of robotic vacuum cleaners

By 2010, it became clear that iRobot had become the leader among manufacturers. By this time, they had produced more than five million copies and were constantly improving technology.

In Russia, automatic appliances began to be sold en masse in 2009, when the above-mentioned company received the necessary certificates and introduced its own products to the household appliances market.

Specifications

The first models sold in different countries were not very comfortable. The height of the case reached 13 cm, which did not allow the automatic device to thoroughly clean under the sofa, wall or bedside tables. They did not have an infrared beam to locate the robot in space and did not have the ability to record existing routes.

Updated models with route organization and spatial orientation appeared only in 2002. It was presented by iRobot. It was still difficult to move around the room and was too bulky, but it was already a breakthrough.

Modern devices are presented in an assortment, there are even ones without navigation. The only advantage is their low price, otherwise they are much inferior to their competitors. A good vacuum cleaner is equipped with visual or laser navigation and can build optimal routes. This is the only way to ensure high-quality cleaning in the apartment.