HOW DYSON ROBO-VAC DIFFERS
Company's engineers target areas where rivals often stumble, Vicky Sanderson says.
Since I began covering and testing Dyson products in 2006, I've been asked countless times whether they are worth the price tag.
The evergreen answer is it depends on your finances, needs and priorities. I've never owned a Dyson product that failed. I'm impressed by their vacuum, air treatment and lighting lines, and I think spending money on things that last and work well is an investment you should make whenever you can.
Dyson has always been a fascinating company. Recently, for example, its foundation awarded an annual prize to engineering students who developed a non-powered device for war or emergency environments that makes it easier to safely carry and use life-saving intravenous packs.
In 2017, the tuition-free Dyson Institute welcomed its first cohort of undergrads, in a setting that combines conventional academic learning with hands-on experience, for which students are paid a salary.
In the past decade or so, Dyson moved into agriculture, establishing 36,000 acres of farmland in the United Kingdom. The focus is on sustainable production, food security, renewables and environmentally healthy farming practices.
The latest consumer-facing news comes via founder James Dyson's son, Jake. Canadian lifestyle media first heard that name in 2016. The category was lighting, and the product was a funky headlight-like structure called Motorlight. (I liked it.) Look up the Solarcycle Morph to see the current generation of lighting.
Today, as chief engineer, Jake Dyson would have been part of the development of the 360
Vis Nav robot vacuum that just launched in Canada. As always, the process would begin by examining challenges in existing machines.
Dyson engineers identified such areas of concern as low suction power, functionality that compromises performance and sloppy navigation.
The response is a full-vision system with a fish-eye hemispheric lens that records where it has been and sees where it has to clean, and can create a “dust map” of the home, based on data from 26 sensors for everything from obstacle avoidance to dust detection.
Brushes on the machine clean right to the edge (a frequent complaint about conventional robot vacuums) using a wall-follow sensor and redirecting suction to the side. That contrasts with conventional design that aims to whip dust in front of the vacuum for catchment, but tends to make those particles fly about instead.
The brush bar has soft nylon to pick up large debris on hard floors, anti-static carbon-fibre filaments for fine dust on hard floors and nylon bristles for carpets. It can climb up to 2.1 cm, and clean under objects as low as 9.9 cm from the floor.
Other numbers are equally impressive. An auto mode detects dust levels 15,000 times a second to detect particles invisible to the human eye. Cleaning modes include quick, quiet and boost functions.
Whole-machine HEPA filtration means the system traps dust and seals in 99.99 per cent of microscopic particles as small as 0.1 microns. That's in contrast to other vacuums with high-efficiency filters but that also have cracks and crevices that leak particles back into the air. In effect, air coming out of the machine will always be cleaner than air that goes in.
Bin emptying is done by the press of button while holding the basket over the garbage, and filters can be cleaned and reused.
The machine works with a smartphone app. Users access new functionality and features through automatic software updates. Spokespeople were coy about whether it will work soon with universal smart-home platform Matter, telegraphing news on that will come soon.
Run time is up to 65 minutes. After that, the machine recharges and readies itself for the next time it cleans your home and the air you breathe, like the clever little Dyson it is.