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GadgetGuru
32 T3 Tomorrow’s Technology Today APRIL 2019 WWW.T3INDIA.COM
T3’s laser-guided autonomous
GADGET GURU helper solves your tech queries
Robotvacuums,itisfairto
say,suck.Someofthem
arealsobad,atleaston
thelowerrungs.Acheaprobot
vacuumwillmeanderoveryour
ruginmuchthesamemanneras
Gurudoeswithhis3AMkebab
afteraparticularlylongnight–
andit’llsimilarlyeatsocksbecause
itcan’tquiteseewhatit’sdoing.
Avoidthelowerend,becauseyou
willspendmoretimedragging
thingsoutofitsstupidbrushes,
emptyingitsdirtbox,andcursing
itsinefficiencythanyouwill
watchingyourcattakean
adorablelittlerideonit.Mid-range
vacs,startingaroundthe`30,000
mark,doalotbetter.Theyusually
havesomekindofinternal
mappingsystembuiltin,sothey
learnthelayoutofyourroomand
coverthewholethingratherthan
careeningaroundidiotically.
They’renotcompletelyself-reliant,
though;GaGu’sNeatoBotvacD6,
despiteitslasernavigation,
frequentlyreversesoverthekids’
toys,andyoustillneedtoempty
itssmalldustcanisterwith
Is there a truly no-effort robot vacuum out there?
VIJAYKUMAR
A
alarming regularity (Guru Towers
is... dirty). For the ultimate in
robotic luxury, iRobot has finally
cracked the formula by getting a
bit meta. The Roomba i7+ (approx.
`75,700 in the US) comprises a
combination of the Roomba i7 vac
and the Clean Base charger, the
latter of which basically includes
a little vacuum for your vacuum,
sucking the dirt out of the roving
unit. Nice as that is, Guru will hold
onto his wallet until iRobot
introduces a third robot which
sucks the filth out of the Clean
Base directly into his outside bin,
then puts it out on a Tuesday
ILLUSTRATIONS: STEPHEN KELLY morning.
A cheap robot vacuum will
meander over your rug in
much the same manner as
Guru does with his 3AM kebab
ABOVE
If you could
replace all your
chores with nap
time you’d...
end up awake at
4am, probably