Surfaces included wooden, carpeted and tiled floors, all with plenty of obstacles so that we could closely observe how the robot navigated through rooms and see what it did and didn’t clean up. This allowed us to understand the pros and cons of the machine and judge whether its advanced technology is really worth the hefty price tag. If you’re concerned that this vacuum might stranded during cleaning, worry not. Instead of conventional wheels, the 360 Eye™ rolls merrily along on two continuous rubber tank tracks that ensure easy maneuverability and maximum traction on different floor types.
There’s a solid product guide built into the app that runs through the features, which bit does what, maintenance and troubleshooting. There is also an option to have Dyson come round to your house and install it for you. The dock is a simple white stand with chrome strips on to which the robot drives to charge. Two black and white checkered squares help the robot see the dock and come back to it when it needs a top up, which it will do mid-clean if its doing more than one room. Excess cable can be stored in the power adapter, keeping it from getting sucked up by the robot. At the Institute we have often been impressed by the power of Dyson vacuums.
Many homeowners love the convenience of a robotic vacuum as they can simply set it to clean on a regular schedule. It’s a great supplement to the weekly full house cleaning that a large upright or canister cleaner is built for. The Dyson Eye 360 performs surprisingly well for a dyson robot vacuum small machine as it has a lot of suction and advanced filtration for removing virtually all allergens that it encounters. For a lot of homes it is all that is needed to keep the floors clean, eliminating the need to spend time at night or on weekends running a larger vacuum.
Fitted with tank tracks rather than wheels, the Dyson 360 Heurist can power over different levels of flooring and even push through deep-pile carpets. For the latter, the option to turn off the brush bar means you can, to a degree, even clean deep-pile carpets and rugs that other cleaners would get stuck on. The very best Dyson you can buy right now is the V15 Detect Absolute (£599).
New models will come out with new features and options and eventually there will be a clear winner. In truth, there have been several tests done on each of these vacuums. With a powerful motor and rotating brushes, the Dyson will vacuum floors and carpets.
The 350dia x H91mm lozenge can get right under all but the lowest furniture, and when it moves from hardwood floors to rugs and carpet it boosts the motor speed for better cleaning results. The twin rubber brush bar is easy to untangle and exceedingly good at picking up pet hair. This bar doesn’t extend right to the edge of the vacuum like they do on the Dyson, but two spinning brushes sweep dust into its path, so it can clean right up to the skirting boards. Marketing materials for robotic vacuums frequently cite low noise, ease of use, and autonomous cleaning as main advantages. The perception that these devices are set-and-forget solutions is widespread but not always correct.
The sensor in the camera is VGA resolution, and only a 480 x 480 pixel segment of that is used. A toroid is projected onto the segment, with the final resolution being 128k pixels. ‘We can navigate more than effectively using just that image,’ Aldred said. ‘If we had a larger sensor we would be wasting processing time, either sub-sampling bissell crosswave cordless or throwing away information. We need everything we can in terms of processing power; the processor is a 10-year-old processor.’ The engineers also needed headroom on the processor to add functionality. Turning a robot into a good teammate can be difficult, because it can be tricky to find the right amount of autonomy.
Virtual No-Go lines set boundaries, to restrict the unit’s movements to desired cleaning areas. As of 2018, obstacles such as dog feces, cables and shoes remain very difficult for robots to navigate around. As if competing with the ubiquitous brand recognition of Roomba isn’t enough, there are also a number of competitors in the game ahead of Dyson.
Reports of Wi-Fi drop-outs are fairly common with this model, and it does not include a standalone remote so you do need a connection to a phone for full control. As mentioned, this vacuum cleans deep, and is especially good on carpets. Connecting the Heurist to our Wi-Fi took a few seconds, and, unlike the original, didn’t require the inputting of serial numbers, just our Wi-Fi password and the Dyson Link app. Once connected and charged, we could map rooms , assign safe zones, adjust the power levels for different floor types, and schedule cleaning jobs. We did have some connectivity issues where the Heurist dropped off the network, but overall, it was there when we needed it.
With Dyson technology suction doesn’t die as the battery starts to drain. I think before exploring new areas of innovation in design, the quality of the original product should be further developed. Dyson is always great in terms of suction and air-technology, but it’s not quite there for robotics yet. But there are changes irobot vacuum cleaner from previous models, the most obvious of which is the shape of the robot vacuum itself, which seems wider and shorter. It also has one flat side, so it has more in common with the Neato Botvac than previous Dyson vacs – superficially, at least. The most interesting change for this product, though, is the new shape.