Samsung robot vacuum cleaner with ‘security camera’ can bypass objects via lidar

Samsung has announced the JetBot 90 AI+ robot vacuum cleaner. The device contains a camera so that users can watch what is happening in the house from a distance. To avoid objects and choose a route, the vacuum cleaner has, among other things, a lidar sensor.

According to Samsung, the JetBot 90 uses AI+ 3D sensors and a lidar sensor to recognize objects and navigate through the house as the residents do. The lidar sensor would be comparable to the functioning of lidars in self-driving cars. That means that many laser pulses are fired quickly, mapping the immediate environment, including the distance to objects.

The robot vacuum cleaner can map distances up to six meters and can classify objects, so that the device can determine which objects to avoid and which a cleaning session is in order. Thanks to Intel’s integrated artificial intelligence, which is trained on more than a million images of household items, the vacuum cleaner can recognize objects such as sofas, bookshelves, tables, towels, cables and dog bowls. It also suggests that the JetBot 90 AI+ can recognize and avoid waste or junk where vacuuming would lead to an even bigger problem, such as dog poop.

The on-board camera can be accessed via the Samsung SmartThings app, allowing users to remotely see where the vacuum cleaner is located in the house while keeping an eye on things at the same time. The app can also be used to set zones where the vacuum cleaner should not come, to set up a cleaning schedule and to control the JetBot 90 AI+ remotely. Once the robotic vacuum cleaner has completed its tasks, it will automatically return to the base station to empty the bin. The JetBot 90 AI+ should be released in the first half of this year for a suggested retail price of 1499 euros.