Dyson redefines the Robot Vacuum with the Dyson 360 Eye

Sixteen years of research and development is proof that James Dyson doesn’t settle for something that’s not going to live up to the standards the market expects from a premium brand like Dyson – finally though, Dyson will enter the Robot Vacuum market with the Dyson 360 Eye.

Robot vacuum cleaners are fun, and very useful, however they still require an overall clean to be done to the home. My experience with the robot vacuums has been they can keep a room or rooms clear from the obvious dust and dirt, but in reality they aren’t doing  a great clean.

Dyson hopes to reshape the robotic market with a device that in their own words is “finally capable of cleaning properly” by adding more suction power than any other robot vacuum cleaner on the market.

More than just suction power, the Dyson 360 Eye is a smart home device and can be programmed to vacuum your home via your smartphone which communicates direct with the 360 Eye.

The 360 Eye will go on sale in Japan in Spring of 2015 with the rest of the world to follow later in the year – so the unit may well be 12 months or more away from Australian release.

Mr James Dyson himself said of the device:

“Most robotic vacuum cleaners don’t see their environment, have little suction, and don’t clean properly. They are gimmicks. We’ve been developing a unique 360° vision system that lets our robot see where it is, where it has been, and where it is yet to clean. Vision, combined with our high speed digital motor and cyclone technology, is the key to achieving a high performing robot vacuum – a genuine labour saving device.”

Dyson believe that existing robotic vacuums in the market neglect cleaning performance by using weak and inefficient motors to conserve battery life at the expense of suction.

Using Dyson’s patented digital motor and cyclonic technology the Dyson 360 Eye will capture particles down to 0.5 microns.

Additionally, rather than roaming aimlessly around a room to get the job done, the Dyson 360 Eye “sees” its environment using a 360° vision system, which creates a detailed floor plan to allow a systematic cleaning of any given room.

Dyson’s launch announcement states:

Infrared sensors work in conjunction with a lens on the top of the machine that houses a 360° panoramic camera. The camera can see all the room at once so the machine can accurately triangulate its position. It then uses landmarks within the images to establish how it has moved between each frame and update its model of the environment accordingly.

As well as new brush technology under the hood, the 360 Eye also benefits from the “Dyson Link” App which will allow owners to control the schedule of cleaning from anywhere in the world.

Dyson as a company isn’t slowing down, with 2,000 engineers and scientists working at the company worldwide, another 300 will join by the end of 2014.  The 360 Eye alone has over 420 patents associated with it from across the range of shared technology in the Dyson range and unique to the 360 Eye.

The Dyson 360 Eye weighs in at 2.37kg, and has a “dust bin” capacity of  0.4 litres of dust and dirt

Its lithium ion battery delivers a 20-30 minute run time with no drop in performance after which it again returns to base for charging.

There’s a while to wait for the launch here in Australia, but there will certainly be interest.