One recent vacuum-cleaner variation is the so-called "cyclone vacuum." This machine, developed in the 1980s by James Dyson, doesn't have a traditional bag or filter system. Instead, it sends the air stream through one or more cylinders, along a high-speed spiral path. This motion works something like a clothes dryer, a roller coaster or a merry-go-round. As the air stream shoots around in a spiral, all of the dirt particles experience a powerful centrifugal force: They are whipped outward, away from the air stream. In this way, the dirt is extracted from the air without using any sort of filter. It simply collects at the bottom of the cylinder.High volumes of air simultaneously move through several cyclones, providing higher, continuous suction power. The cyclone system is a marked improvement on traditional vacuum cleaners -- there are no bags to replace and the suction doesn't decrease as you suck up more dirt. Until recently, no matter how powerful the vacuum, someone still had to be there to push it around.

Enter the robotic vacuum. These little gadgets clean all by themselves, thanks to a combination of motors, sensors and a navigation system. To explore one in more detail, check out How Robotic Vacuums Work. In the future, we are sure to see even more improvements on the basic vacuum-cleaner design, with new suction mechanisms and collection systems. But the basic idea, using a moving air stream to pick up dirt and debris, is most likely here to stay for some time. For more information on vacuum cleaners and related topics, check out the links on the next page.The self-navigation system is what makes a robotic vacuum robotic, and the biggest difference between a $50 model and a $1,500 model is the precision of the navigation sensors. Roomba uses iRobot's AWARE(tm) Robotic Intelligence System to make many decisions for itself, so minimal human input is required. The AWARE system is made up of multiple sensors that pick up environmental data, send it to robot's the microprocessor and alter Roomba's actions accordingly.

According to iRobot, the system can adapt to new input up to 67 times per second. We'll look at the following parts to learn how Roomba navigates its environment: Pressing on the bumper activates the object sensors (below). The first thing Roomba does when you press "Clean" is calculate the room size. aaa vacuum cleaner coiRobot is a bit hazy on how it does this, but HowStuffWorks believes that it sends out an infrared signal and checks how long it takes to bounce back to the infrared receiver located on its bumper. euro guard vacuum cleanerOnce it establishes the size of the room, it knows how long it should spend cleaning it.genesis vacuum cleaner price Read Vacuum and Steam Cleaner Reviews and compare prices at Consumer Guide Products before you buy.

While Roomba is cleaning, it avoids steps (or any other kind of drop-off) using four infrared sensors on the front underside of the unit. These cliff sensors constantly send out infrared signals, and Roomba expects them to immediately bounce back. If it's approaching a cliff, the signals all of a sudden get lost. This is how Roomba knows to head the other way. When Roomba knocks into something, its bumper retracts, activating mechanical object sensors that tell Roomba it has encountered an obstacle. It then performs (and repeats) the sequential actions of backing up, rotating and moving forward until it finds a clear path. Another infrared sensor, which we'll call a wall sensor, is located on the right side of the bumper and lets Roomba follow very closely along walls and around objects (like furniture) without touching them. This means it can clean pretty close up to these obstacles without bumping into them. It also determines its own cleaning path using what iRobot says is a pre-set algorithm that achieves complete floor coverage.

When HowStuffWorks tried it out, we found that Roomba starts cleaning in an outward-moving spiral and then heads for the perimeter of the room. Once it hits an obstacle, it believes it has reached the perimeter of the room. It then cleans along the "perimeter" until it hits another obstacle, at which point it cleans around it, finds a clear path and proceeds to traverse the room between objects like walls and furniture until the allotted cleaning time is up. The idea appears to be that if it cleans for a certain amount of time, it'll cover the whole floor, but whether it actually achieves complete floor coverage is pretty much hit or miss. Roomba can clean for about two hours on a single charge. If you have the self-charger, Roomba will return and connect to the charger all by itself when the battery power is low (the self-charger is sold as an add-on to the Roomba base model but comes included on most of the higher Discovery models). It accomplishes this using the infrared receiver on its front bumper.

When the battery power gets low, the vacuum starts looking for the infrared signal emitted by the charger. Once it finds it, Roomba follows the signal and docks itself to the charger. Some robotic vacuums with this self-charging feature will head back out to resume cleaning once they're fully recharged. So the Roomba is smart enough to clean your floors while you're at the movies, but there are still some decisions you need to make for it. First, you need to remove small obstacles from the floor so Roomba doesn't get stuck on them or try to suck them up. You also need to tell Roomba where it should not go. Using included virtual wall units, you can keep the robot within certain boundaries. Virtual walls send out infrared signals that Roomba picks up with the receiver on its bumper. When it picks up a signal from a virtual wall, it knows to turn around and head the other way. Roomba's sensors allow it navigate your home with relative autonomy. Now let's find out how it accomplishes its real purpose: vacuuming.