Neato Robotics
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Neato Robotics XV-11 robotic vacuum cleaner
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| Industry | Robots |
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| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Newark, California |
| Products | Domestic robots |
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Number of employees
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65 (2013) |
| Website | www |
Neato Robotics is a robotics company located in Newark, California. Their product, the Neato XV-series (and as of 2014 the expanded BotVac series) robotic vacuum cleaner, began selling in 2010 for US$399.00. The company has around 65 employees, and raised over $60 million in funding over several rounds. The design work is done in California, with contract manufacturing in China.
Unlike the Roomba vacuum cleaner, which goes randomly around a room, the Neato robot travels in straight line patterns partially overlapped, with the help of a laser range finder that scans around in a full 360° circle, and the SLAM algorithm that allows it to map the room being vacuumed while it is completing its task.
The Neato XV robot is able to return to its home base and charge itself when running out of energy, and has sensors that prevent it from falling off stairs. In case the robot is used in a floorplan larger than it can cover with one battery charge, the robot is able to continue cleaning from where it left off the previous session, after recharging its batteries.
In March 2014, Neato Robotics released an expanded model dubbed BotVac developed over several years, with a side brush previously available only on the limited distribution Vorwerk Kobold models in Germany (see below). BotVacs were initially priced about 20 per cent higher than the older XV models. The new model featured additional major changes re-arranging the internal construction with larger filter area and dust bin, for less frequent servicing and covering larger premises, and the battery compacted into a single compartment instead of two separate compartments in the older models. The main front brush was made longer and closer to the wall, with a new more closely fitting bump sensor construction. Along with the side brush this cleans the margin against walls much more closely than the older models, which left a two inch wide strip untouched. The longer brush covers a wider swath of floor on each pass and the unit runs much quieter. The casing was modernized with more snap-fit fastenings and fewer screws. Internal electronics were upgraded and refined, and new commercial embedded systems operating system used. The brush drive belt was covered by a cowling with a new mounting method. A major improvement in efficiency was made with a lower voltage 10-cell 12v battery but higher in Ampere-Hours capacity than the older 12-cell battery, reflecting advances in battery manufacture over years. The battery remains NiMh compared to the Lithium battery used in Germany (and avoiding all hazard concerns with Lithium Ion batteries). However, the new Botvac Connected has a lithium battery. The BotVac is sold in several packages differing in accessories included such as extra filters and different brush types, same as the previous XV models were packaged.
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Wikipedia