Autov Intelligent Cleaner

** What Is It **
I'm sure we could all claim to be intelligent cleaners but not many of us can deny grumbling about doing such work. The answer, then, is an artificially intelligent, battery powered, robotic vacuum cleaner.

The M-288 is a Chinese clone of the better known American Roomba but at a third of the price (£40 from ebuyer October 2008). I tracked down the manufacturer to www.autov-hh.com and discovered that this was just one model of a range of robotic products provided by Guangzhou Huahong Industry Development Co., Ltd.

In short, the M-288 is a rechargeable vacuum cleaner/sweeper that wanders around a room, all by itself, picking up the bits. Great fun and useful too.

** What You Get **
The sturdy cardboard box is little bigger than the unit itself at 13x42x42cm, includes a handy plastic carry handle and weighs in at just over 3 Kg. Although I have only seen this on the Internet I guess it would be easy enough to carry home from the shops. Inside the box you get:
~ Intelligent cleaner (fully assembled and ready to use)
~ Battery charger
~ Virtual Wall unit (uses an infra-red beam that the cleaner treats as a barrier)
~ Spare filter
~ Spare side brush
~ Plastic spoon (to apply liquid wax floor polish to the main brush)
~ Manual

The specifications are as follows:
~ Battery Charger: AC/DC: Input 230V 50HZ, Output 18V DC 400mA
~ Battery : 14.4V 1Amp/hour Ni-Cd
~ Unit average power : 19W to 25W
~ Suction Power : 2.4W
~ Dust Capacity: 0.25L
~ Charge Time: 4-5 hours
~ Working Time: 45-75 minutes
~ Product Size: 34cm diameter and 6cm high

The charger is a normal 13 amp plug 'block' with a thin, trailing lead to connect to the unit. The robot unit itself is an attractive silver colour with black sections. The shell and most parts are made from plastic with some parts stronger than others. Although reasonably robust in appearance I suspect that it will need careful handling to keep in top condition. I imagine that one pounce from an errant toddler would cause something to crack and the unit to require repair.

The manual is a 12 page, A5 booklet which, although not perfect English, is easy to understand. It includes a good selection of words and diagrams that clearly explain the essentials and a bit more besides.

** Doing The Business **
Operation is very simple. You switch on the power at the side and then select one of three buttons on the top. These are:
~ S for small rooms from 10 to 15 square metres (30 minutes recommended cleaning time)
~ M for medium rooms from 15 to 25 square metres (40 minutes recommended cleaning time)
~ L for large rooms from 25 to 60 square metres (50 minutes recommended cleaning time)

The manufacturers suggest that it should not be used for areas larger than 60 square metres. I guess this is because the battery only lasts about an hour and it does get quite warm during operation.

When you press a 'room size' button it illuminates and the robot then starts roaming around and stops when it gets tired (battery runs out). The manual suggests it is best for use on hard floors and carpet up to medium pile. It struggles to move about on deep pile and I found that small mats on hard surfaces tend to get pushed along rather than cleaned.

You can stop it in a number of ways; press one of the S/M/L buttons, pick up the unit with the top mounted handle, flip the on/off button.

I found the noise level was not as bad as my Dyson but was enough to be irritating if you were to try reading or watching TV in the same room. After the initial novelty wore off I found I just set it going, walked out and closed the door.

The robot learns about its environment by using an ever increasing spiral movement and by bumping into things, backing off a little, turning a little and moving forward again. This is entertaining to watch, for the first five or ten minutes, as it feels its way around the edge of the room.

It uses a number of cleaning devices as it goes along:
~ at the front right corner is a rotating, three armed side brush that sweeps dust from the edges into the centre of the unit. It is this that makes the cleaner effective along walls and into corners
~ at the front left corner is a static flat brush that, again directs dust towards the centre of the unit. It can't be as effective as the rotating brush. I guess this is a compromise of cost against efficiency
~ at the mid point are the main drive wheels with a rotating rubber blade brush which agitates the surface to loosen the dirt
~ immediately behind this is the main brush. It is a rotating plastic bristle brush (17 cm wide) typical of upright vacuum cleaners
~ Following this is a vacuum opening with a trailing blade, presumably to enhance suction, which sucks dust into a plastic particle bin

The robot is visibly effective. The beating and sucking action removes all but the most engrained or heavy dirt. I found that room corners were sometimes left with a small amount of dust and dirt and, of course, all the higher level surfaces remain untouched.

Along with the robot comes a free standing, battery powered 'Virtual Wall'. This is placed in doorways and generates an infra-red beam that the cleaner detects and treats like a solid barrier. It takes two 'D' cell batteries, which are not supplied, and has three settings to match the distance of your gap. This clever feature helps to reduce the drain on the batteries when used for smaller openings. I guess you could also use this to partition large spaces or to protect areas of special scientific interest.

Although I live on just one floor I experimented with the claim that it won't fall down stairs. Using a suitably protected table top and standing ready to jump into action to avoid catastrophe I switched on the robot. To my amazement it treated the edge of the table just like a solid barrier, backing off and turning away from disaster.

** Keeping Your Robot Happy **
After each use it is essential that you clean the cleaner. I found that I needed to empty the particle bin, brush clean the filter, clean out the vacuum intake and pull out hair and dust from the brushes. This only takes a few minutes but is a bit messy. Care must be taken with the feeble plastic clips that secure the filter and the vacuum covers. I can see that these will eventually fracture and end up being held together with sticky tape.

The manual suggests you charge the unit for 4 to 5 hours after each use. A charge seems to last just over one hour or around two small sized rooms (if moved after the advised 30 minutes). They recommend you deep charge for 8 to 9 hours after the first use or if its had a long holiday. I used a plug in power monitor during a normal 5 hour charging session to find out that it used 0.04 Kilowatt/hours which cost me less than a penny. An hour of running my Dyson vacuum cleaner uses 1.4 Kilowatt/hours which, although costing me about 20 pence, does the whole house thoroughly and not just the floors in two rooms.

In order to completely clean the main brush you need to remove one very small and fiddly screw. This allows you to remove grime from under the rotating brush and pull out the hair that invariably gets wound around the metal spindle. The manual suggests that you don't have to do this after each use and that you can lubricate the ends to increase its workable life.

You get a replacement filter and side brush although the manual doesn't give advice about the likely lifespan of these components. Replacing the filter is easy but care must be taken with the delicate plastic catches. Replacing the side brush looks straightforward although it involves removing two fiddly little screws.

** Thinking About How It Works **
The robot has sensors along its leading edge. Each time it bumps into something the leading bumper is pushed into the unit against gentle springs and that trips the nearest sensor. The computer controller then immediately stops the motors and reverses direction to back off and allow the unit to turn slightly away from the obstruction. Three, downward pointing, optical sensors work to stop it falling down stairs. On the top surface is an infra-red sensor which lets it detect the virtual wall.

The three room options, S/M/L, must adjust the movement algorithm to optimise cleaning for the different sizes of room. The robot does not limit its activity but just keeps going until the battery is flat or it gets stuck on something and shuts down. Spending the same time for each room size means that it will clean smaller rooms more thoroughly than larger rooms. I'm not sure if this is evidence of intelligent life.

** Dangers **
The manual warns the reader to remove small objects that might get knocked over. I found that preparing the room made my robot more effective by reducing the time it spent backing off and repositioning. I also noticed it pushed small and loose objects around and sometimes got stuck as it tried to ride over them.

The bumping action is quite gentle and shouldn't hurt anything more than a pet stick insect. Spinning devices, like the brushes and wheels, could pinch little fingers but the robot cuts out quickly when lifted or tilted. The virtual wall sends out a beam of infra-red light which the manual cautions against pointing into the eyes.

I think there is more danger to the robot than to others as this is a delicate piece of high technology. I can imagine that an open wine bottle on a wobbly table could easily be knocked over by an exploratory bump. If it fell onto the unit I would expect the bottle weight to crack the plastic shell and the wine to fuse the electrics.

** The Verdict **
At the price this is a great gift idea and not a bad addition to any house-proud cleaner's tool-kit. It will not do away with the normal vacuum cleaner because it can't handle things like under sofa cushions, the tops of skirting boards, ceiling corners and the inside of sock drawers. But as a device to use in between major cleaning sessions it is definitely recommended.