iRobot: Roombas Can Clean Around Holiday Trees, Socks, Shoes
November 30, 2021
Just in time for the holidays, iRobot has announced new features for its Roomba j7 and j7+ robot vacuums that are powered by additions to its Genius Home Intelligence software. The new features include the ability to identify and clean around holiday trees, shoes, and socks, in addition to previous obstacles such as cords and solid pet wastes.
The consumer robot company said the new update also allows existing customers to transfer robot intelligence from their current Imprint Smart Mapping robot to a new Smart Mapping robot. New features on the iRobot Genius updates include:
- Holiday tree zone detection: The Roomba j7 and ju+ can recommend cleaning zones around trees via the iRobot Home App. With this enabled the robot can automatically suggest a Clean Zone around the outer perimeter of the tree, and place a “Keep Out Zone” in the center, preventing the robot from contacting the tree.
- Shoes and socks hazard avoidance: The updates allow the robots to identify and avoid shoes and socks when cleaning, adding to the current list of other objects the vacuum can detect and avoid, including cords and solid pet waste. iRobot said the Roomba j7+ will continue to get smarter over time and identify even more objects with future over-the-air updates.
- Map copy: The company said users with Smart Mapping robots can now transfer existing smart maps from one robot to another, including the Braava jet m6 robot mop.
“With each iRobot Genius update, your robot gets smarter and does even more at no cost,” said Keith Hartsfield, chief product officer at iRobot. “This latest update gives the Roomba j7 and j7+ the ability to recognize and clean around holiday trees, shoes and socks, letting you enjoy more of what you like to do during the holiday season. With Map Copy, it also lets a customer more easily set up a new robot so that it automatically starts where their old robot left off, similar to activating a new cell phone.”
The company also announced several discounts on robots during the holidays, including saving up to $200 on the j7+, up to $440 on the j Series robot and Braava jet m6 bundles, up to $500 on the i Series vacuum and Braava jet m6 bundles, and $30 on the Root rt0 Coding Robot. The company added that the Roomba i1 robot vacuum is currently available at select retailers. The i1 purposefully and logically cleans in neat rows, moving from room to room across hard floors and carpet.
Additional deals and information are available at the iRobot website.
