Panasonic's triangular robot vacuum is aimed squarely at corners Panasonic has entered the robot vacuum market with a pricey wedge-shaped droid that gets deep into corners. The MC-RS1 Rulo has a roughly triangular shape with rounded sides and corners and a dust sensor that are designed to help it do a better job at cleaning up than rival robots, according to the company. The unit can move from side to side in tight spots while attacking dirt with two rotating brushes that stick out from its corners. They push dirt toward a cylindrical sweeper on the underside of the robot, which can tackle various floor types including tatami mats commonly used in Japan. “The Rulo triangle shape was developed after years of R&D into vacuum cleaners,” a Panasonic spokeswoman said via email. “It is the first in the industry to be equipped with a fully fledged v-shaped brush.” The dust sensor is designed to detect particles that are so fine as to be virtually invisible to the eye.

Rulo weighs 3kg (6.6 pounds) and is about 30cm (11.8 inches) across. silicone vacuum cleaner hoseIt’s equipped with ultrasonic and infrared sensors to help it navigate around obstacles and follow walls, which it combines with moving in random directions while covering a floor. vacuum cleaners reviews baglessIt can operate for about an hour in automatic mode.vacuum cleaner dust compression Rulo faces an uphill battle for share of the robot cleaning market, dominated by iRobot’s Roomba line, which has sold millions of units worldwide. Panasonic, however, has a large appliance business and distribution channels in Japan and other countries. It’s aiming to produce 5,000 Rulo robots per month. The Rulo will go on sale in March in Japan, and is already listed on electronics retailer Yodobashi Camera’s website for ¥107,780 (US$913), which is significantly more than high-end Roomba models on the site.

Japan rolls out afro-topped cheerleading swarm robots Subscribe to the Best of PCWorld Newsletter Panasonic’s Triangular Rulo Robot Vacuum Cleans Your Pesky Corners Panasonic's MC-RS1 Rulo robot vacuum has rotating brushes on two of its three corners that get into those corners and drive the dirt into the unit's main cleaning mechanism. Panasonic is dipping its toes into the robot vacuum market, introducing the triangular-shaped MC-RS1 Rulo that is deigned to better clean the corners in your home. The Rulo robot vacuum has rotating brushes on two of its three corners that get into those corners and drive the dirt into the unit’s main rotating mechanism on the bottom of the chassis. Panasonic is releasing the Rulo only in Japan at the moment, so the company says the robot vacuum works on all types of surfaces, including Japanese tatami mats. Panasonic says Rulo will run for about an hour in auto mode after a three-hour charge, and it’s suite of sensors all it to navigate around furniture, pets, tables, chairs and other potential obstacles.

Rulo, which weighs about 6.6 lbs and is 11.8 inches wide, can be configured to either follow the walls of a room or move randomly throughout a room. Panasonic says the triangular design is a result of a customer survey that show they were unhappy with circular robot vacuums because they were unable to pick up dust in the corners of rooms. “The Rulo triangle shape was developed after years of R&D into vacuum cleaners,” a Panasonic spokeswoman tells PC World via email. Panasonic will start selling the Rulo robot vacuum in Japan in March for ¥107,780 ($913). It says sales in overseas markets will follow.Rulo Triangular Robot Vacuum Cleaner Panasonic MC-RS1 robotic cleaning Worldwide express shipping (trackable and insured): US$ 81Single item cost. Panasonic has entered the robotic vacuum cleaner market with the originally designed Rulo. The triangular bot has rounded corners to really penetrate the edges of a room. The lightweight nifty cleaner is a mere 3.3kg (6.6 lbs) and around 330mm (13") wide, and can give you an efficient 60 minutes of cleaning.

Don't worry about obstacles. Rulo can navigate with infrared and ultrasonic sensors. Its double v-letter three-sided brushes sweep up dust and dirt into its powerful mouth, while the truly novel shape means it is far more effective at corners and unusual angles than average robot vacuums. The Rulo Triangular Robot Vacuum Cleaner features: Colors: black or white Modes: automatic, concentrated, spot, area memory Size: 330 x 325 x 92mm (13 x 12.8 x 3.6") Weight: 3kg (6.6 lbs) (excluding battery) Suction mouth: 180mm (7.1") Charging time: 3 hours Can run for around 100 minutes Automatic mode: around 60 minutes Battery: Lithium-ion (lifecycle: c.1,500 charges) Power: DC14.4V, AC100V 50Hz-60Hz, DC20.5V 1.3A Sensors: ultrasonic, infrared, gyro, house dust Engineers at Panasonic Corp. appear to have dusted off their geometry books when designing the company’s new robot vacuum cleaner. Flying in the face of the prevailing trend for circular robot vacuums, the Osaka-based electronics maker has opted for a different shape: the triangle.

Among Senior Voters, Clinton Grows More Appealing Some High Schools Cancel Dances Over Concerns About Alcohol and Drug Use Drugmakers Point Finger at Middlemen for Rising Drug Prices What’s Derailing Greece’s Plan to Sell State Assets? Asian Firms Muscle In on Region’s Oil Patch as Western Companies Retreat Stock Investors Rediscover Taste for Risk Iran Says It Built Drone Based on Captured U.S. Craft Exotic Fruits Are Selling Out for Rosh HashanaTOKYO -- Over the past few years, a string of manufacturers have jumped on the robot vacuum cleaner bandwagon, but the inability to clean a floor completely has been a major drawback to existing models. In an increasingly competitive market, companies are focusing on development of a machine that is capable of vacuuming up dust and debris in all household situations, especially in the corners of rooms.     Leading the pack is Toshiba Lifestyle Products & Services, which has overcome the weakness-in-corners problem by developing the Torneo Robo VC-RVD1.

Released in September 2014, the cleaner is equipped with bristle brushes protruding from the front right and left to reach into corners and efficiently collect debris.     In March 2015, Panasonic entered the robot vacuum market with its uniquely designed Rulo MC-RS1 that features a rounded triangular shape. Sharp incorporated into its newest model, the Cocorobo RX-V95A, a function to blow air into a corner for easy dust collection.     How efficient are these machines when compared with the Roomba 885, a household name in robotic cleaning and made by U.S. technology company iRobot?The first test was conducted to compare the cleaning performance of the machines. In it, flour was scattered on both low-pile and high-pile carpets. The Roomba did the best job of vacuuming up particles embedded deep in carpet fibers. An improvement in its carpet cleaning capability was made possible by introducing a new system that uses silicon rubber rollers at the suction point, replacing bristle brushes.

Sales On Demand, the Japanese distributor of Roomba cleaners, claims the new model's suction power is five times as much as its predecessors.      When it comes to cleaning wooden floors, the three Japanese models completely removed particles from the surface of the floor, while the Roomba left behind some particles that were embedded in the grooves of the flooring.     Next was a test for the corner cleaning performance, which is now the focal point of consumer attention. Tests confirmed there is a big performance gap between the Roomba and its Japanese counterparts. The iRobot cleaner failed to completely suck up coffee grounds that were scattered in corners, even pushing some particles deeper into the corner while spinning around in a circular motion. In contrast, the Panasonic, Sharp and Toshiba models picked up almost all of the coffee grounds from the corners.These results show that the Roomba cleaned carpets very well, while the Rulo, Cocorobo and Torneo Robo swept up dust and debris from floors and corners more efficiently.      

Among the four machines, there is little difference in usability.     The Torneo Robo stood out in terms of dustbin efficiency. The machine has an automatic collection system built into its dock station, which sucks in the debris from the cleaner each time it is docked and recharged. The function allows consumers to reduce the frequency of emptying the dustbin to once a month, according to Toshiba.      The three Japanese models have the edge in the ease of maintenance category, because their dustbins and filters are washable. The Torneo Robo and the Cocorobo also have carefully designed dustbins so that debris does not scatter easily when users empty the bin. One of the strengths of the Roomba is that the machine's rubber rollers near the suction point are less likely to get tangled in hair and pet fur.     From a comprehensive perspective, the Torneo Robo earned the top score for virtually flawless performance associated with cleaning capability, usability and ease of maintenance.

In a home where most rooms are carpeted, the tangle-free Roomba, boasting powerful suction, would be a good choice. But given that British electronics maker Dyson has unveiled plans to launch its first robot vacuum cleaner by the end of the year, which will use cyclone technology to provide strong suction ability, it might be worth the wait to check out one of the vacuum cleaner market leader's new products first.Usability: The Torneo Robo comes with a dust-collectiing dockAll four models are equipped with a large on-off switch to start cleaning at the touch of a button. The operating panels of these vacuums are all easy to use, exhibiting little difference in their usability. The Rulo has several operation buttons located under its top cover, while the Roomba has top-mounted buttons. The Torneo Robo has a docking station capable of automatically emptying the debris gathered by the cleaner while it is recharging. This function conveniently allows consumers to reduce the frequency of debris disposal.

The Cocorobo is unique because it has a voice recognition function that responds to voice commands, such as "clean up."Cleaning performance: The Roomba excels at cleaning carpets, while its Japanese rivals are better at cleaning corners.While the Roomba demonstrated its powerful suction to clean carpets completely, it failed to fully suck up flour that was scattered into grooves in the floor and pick up coffee grounds spread into corners. Being specially designed for better corner cleaning performance, the Toshiba, Sharp and Panasonic models collected nearly all of the coffee grounds from the corners and vacuumed up all of the flour from the floor. Performance tests for the robot vacuum cleaners were conducted by having them vacuum a wooden floor and two kinds of carpets, low- and high-pile types, three times, on which flour was scattered. Another assessment method was to have them automatically clean the corner of a wooden floor with an area of about 1.5 sq. meters for up to 15 minutes, on which coffee grounds were scattered.