iRobot's Roomba gets smarter with app update

US-based advanced technology company iRobot has announced an update to the iRobot HOME App that will let its Roomba robot provide visual post-cleaning maps that display information about its performance.

The new Clean Map reports now include information such as the dirtiest floor areas and total space cleaned. Its integration of Amazon Alexa voice activated control will make communicating with a Roomba vacuuming robot even easier.

"iRobot is aggressively pursuing opportunities within the connected home to improve our customers' experience with our cleaning robots," Colin Angle, chairman and CEO of iRobot, said in a statement.

"The latest updates for the iRobot HOME App make cleaning with an iRobot Roomba vacuuming robot even more user friendly, with voice-activated commands, enhanced mapping features and useful post-cleaning reports," Angle added.

Combining adaptive navigation with visual localisation, iRobot Roomba 900 Series vacuuming robots build a map of a home as they clean.

Clean Map reports make these maps visible to customers in the iRobot HOME App after a cleaning job is complete, showing total area and duration a Roomba 900 Series vacuum cleaned -- for up to 30 cleaning jobs.

Leveraging "Dirt Detect" -- an iRobot patented feature only found on Roomba vacuuming robots -- Clean Map reports also provide users with information about where the robot encounters higher concentrations of dirt or debris, providing a more focused cleaning in those areas.

Clean Map reports can be viewed in the History tab of the iRobot HOME App.

With Amazon Alexa, customers can start, stop and pause Roomba cleaning jobs with simple voice activated commands.

The Alexa skill for Roomba vacuuming robots will be available to US customers in the second quarter of 2017 for both Android and iOS devices.

--IANS

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