Lidar vs Vslam (cameras vs lasers) For Robot Vacuums - Which One is Best?

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00:00 Lidar vs Vslam (cameras vs lasers) For Robot Vacuums - Which One is Best?
00:10 Random Navigation
00:50 Navigation
02:11 Accuracy
02:57 No-Go lines
04:02 Lights on or off
04:33 False Barriers
04:49 Smart Robot Vacuums

On the rare occasion that Vacuum Wars does a sponsored video or receives a product from a manufacturer to review, we will be clear about that in the video. otherwise, if nothing was mentioned, then this was an unsponsored review.

[VacuumWars]

Correction: Samsung released their "Navibot" in Europe in 2010 which was one of the first "Vslam" robots. It beat Dyson by 4 years! Also someone in the comments here made an excellent point that Lidar bots have more moving parts and thus is less reliable over the years. I have heard of laser motors needing to be replaced after a couple years of heavy use, so it is something to consider as well.

[lightdark]

Lidar units only need a "you can try to clean under this area" function. So bed and furniture skirts would not be an issue.

[JmanFilms]

You also forgot to mention the privacy aspect. LIDAR can only record distances whereas a camera is a camera. "Smart" devices are famously easy to hack into especially on the budget end, so having a camera that can go anywhere you tell it to can be a problem. Not saying that it has or hasn't happened yet, but it's definitely a possibility.

[vennic]

Honestly, whoever can design one to stop running over my feet like a toddler or will go clean another room when I tell it to f*** off wins my money

[uss_]

Can you do a video on maintenance of Robot vacuums? Their long terms costs of ownership, replacement part availability for midrange vs high end, and costs for replacement “consumable” parts(Hepa, Brushes, Rollers). Example, My Roomba spends a lot of time on hard tile floors and it seems like the dual rollers might be experiencing more wear than a brush based system.

[mtrivelin]

Great comparison! Thanks for this nice video.

I own a 2007 Roomba 581 and later I got a Neato XV-21 from 2012. I use both daily. The Roomba gives a lot of headbutt in the furniture but captures a lot of dust, precisely by using its chaotic navigation, passing several times in the same place. The rotating brush helps a lot too.
Already Neato is very delicate, it does not hit the furniture or scratch the legs of the chairs. It doesn't capture so much dust because it lacks a rotating side brush. I bought these two old ones with years of use and minor defects, but with some love, screws and glue, they still work well to date.

About LIDAR. An advantage of Roomba is its ability to "check" whether the obstacle is true or not, as in the case of the bed "skirt". My Roomba slow down and force the passage very slowly. Without noticing resistance, it can get in and out under the bed.

Neato can't do that, LIDAR sees the fabric as a solid barrier. But maybe Neato could solve this problem modifing the "no go lines" feature by using it in reverse. If the user could draw "yes go lines" around the bed, the robot would know that there is a transposable "obstacle" even if the LIDAR sees a solid wall.

What do you think of the idea?

[danimal]

The truth of the matter is that Neato holds the US patent for the use of lidar on robotic vacuums.
This is the reason Irobot and Shark "choose" not to use lidar.

[americansoldier]

The most important thing you said during this entire video is LiDAR is better. I will second that notion and say there is no competition. LiDAR in my opinion, is 10 times better than cameras. My $225 DeeBot 930 from eBay can run circles around my $1200 irobot Which constantly get stuck in the no vacuum zones

[RecreationalOverEngineering]

Good overview of the pros and cons of each technology! I'd just like to point out the distinction between localizing the robot (knowing where it is) and obstacle avoidance. The robots with V-SLAM systems use it only for localizing, so they typically use a bumper and/or IR proximity sensors to detect obstacles and avoid them. How well they avoid "pet accidents" and still push on overhangs to get in under your couch, depends on how correctly those other sensors are tuned. A 2D lidar, on the other hand, can offer both localization and obstacle avoidance, but only at the specific height of the lidar sensor. That's why lidar robots bump into lots of stuff, or need bumper/IR proximity sensors to compensate for its blind spots.

This is why we at Electrolux chose a third path for our Pure i9 robot, launched in 2017: It has a 3D lidar with no moving parts, so it can localize itself like a lidar robot, while also seeing obstacles at any height and with high resolution. This gives a lot of data to analyze what it sees, such as measuring the height of thresholds before climbing them, avoiding socks on the floor and even seeing the edge of a staircase or carpet and cleaning along it.

[dunderhoken]

My mom is soooo happy for the S6 I gave her 2 weeks ago :)

[RobotMasters]

Exceptional video on the difference of vslam camera based robots VS LIDAR. I agree that camera can offer more data once the hardware allows it. Maybe in the future they will incorporate 3D Lidar systems? Anyways camera based systems tend to be more durable since they have no mechanical parts. Keep up the Amazing Work 👍🏻

[qurantilawahhd]

How can the video about robot vacuum be this interesting?! Good job 👍🏻

[davidmckinley]

Just got the Roborock s5 max and love it.

[sybilgamble]

I love all your vacuum videos they are the best.

[yunanda]

This is really vacuum historical wikipedia ive been looking for

[Clixlol]

He sits in the middle like they are his pets :D

[NiuxTech]

Great content! Looking forward for new robot vacuum models with both laser and camera combo!

[melody_florum]

I saw this tumblr joke once about “releasing” 24 roomba with an Alexa, and this guy could actually do that and that scares me

[Lam-s-Workshop]

oh yes, a much needed discussion! Thanks

[chesinif]

I have a Roman i7+ and it works perfectly at night and in the dark