4 ms·
Roomba (specifically the brand of the American company iRobot) only added lidar in 2025 [1]. Earliest Roombas navigated by touch (bumping into walls), and then
by sampo 9mo ago
Roomba (specifically the brand of the American company iRobot) only added lidar in 2025 [1]. Earliest Roombas navigated by touch (bumping into walls), and then by cameras.
But if you use "roomba" as a generic term for robot vacuum then yes, Chinese Ecovacs and Xiaomi introduced lidar-based robot vacuums in 2015 [2].
[1] https://www.theverge.com/news/627751/irobot-launches-eight-new-roombas-with-lidar-room-mapping https://www.theverge.com/news/627751/irobot-launches-eight-n...
[2] https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=4542 https://english.cw.com.tw/article/article.action?id=4542
- rkomorn 9mo ago> Earliest Roombas navigated by touch (bumping into walls) My ex got a Roomba in the early 2010s and it gave me an irrational but everlasting disdain for the company. They kept mentioning their "proprietary algorithm" like it was some amazing futuristic thing but watching that thing just bump into something and turn, bump into something else and turn, bump into something again and turn again, etc ... it made me hate that thing. Now when my dog can't find her ball and starts senselessly roaming in all the wrong directions in a panic, I call it Roomba mode.
- vardump 9mo agoNeato XV-11 introduced lidar in 2010. Sadly they're no more.
- blitzar 9mo ago> Earliest Roombas navigated by touch (bumping into walls) My neighbour used to park like that; "thats what the bumpers are for - bumping"