Looking around...

[bcarpenter]

OK, totally irrelevant question to whether this robot works or not, but one that has intrigued me for a while. When Neato enters a room, it pauses, then rotates a little to each side as if looking around.

Why? Doesn't the turret scan 360°?

And, less intriguing, why the pauses to think about where to go? I would have thought modern CPUs would be able to handle this navigation/planning task quickly enough not to need to pause like this.

[mfortuna]

Modern CPUs come in all kinds of performance levels. It could be the amount of program initialization required when the Neato enters a new room is significant. It is probably clearing and setting up map tables as well as acquiring data from the nav laser. Even my 3GHz desktop pauses once in a while.

[vic7767]

Why? Doesn't the turret scan 360°?

It does. There is a Lidar unit inside the Neato that scans 360 degrees.

[eqwalker]

Why? Doesn't the turret scan 360°?

It does. There is a Lidar unit inside the Neato that scans 360 degrees.

I think what he might be asking is why it must turn while it is stopped as if it is not reading the lidar's full 360 degree view but only a part of the lidar view area and must turn some to get the whole picture.

[Doomsday]

I am going to assume that the reason it turns is the housing still has stands to keep the top on the unit. While they are really thin, at a distance, maybe something could be missed with its scanning in those "blind" spots and it moves side to side to make sure it doesnt miss anything.

[sageman]

also probally to erase any errors that might be occoring and the robot dont know about

[neato]

The Neato pauses and turns when it enters a new area because as part of the automated navigation it needs to establish an initial map from several view points. The pause is because it takes a significant amount of CPU power to process the map and plan the route before it can start cleaning. The Neato also pauses when it is recovering it's position for the same reasons.

[JEfromCanada]

There are two reasons I can think of to explain why the robot turns slightly. Both have been alluded to in prior responses.

1) There are blind spots in the scan caused by the posts in the turret.
2) Changing the perspective of the robot adds an element of "stereo" vision to the single-eyed scanner. This stereo vision is used to form a better image of its surroundings.

If you watch the military channel, you'll notice that almost all robots with "vision" capability use a moving sensor to form a stereophonic image (multiple views of the same image from slightly different perspectives).

[bcarpenter]

Ah, the blind spots. Now it makes sense.

[piokrza]

I think that might be caused to clear up these blind spots (caused by three brackets which holds the roof on the turret), (Doomsday) and "establish an initial map from several view points" (neato point of view), are the most reasonable.

[OntheWay]

When you enter a big mall (those remembers labyrinths) for the first time, or when you leave a theater you didnt visit oftenly to foyer, what you you do ? *grin*

[Wing Nut]

Neato's turn and scan is a much more refined behaviour than another brand's bewildering spins

[JEfromCanada]

When you enter a big mall (those remembers labyrinths) for the first time, or when you leave a theater you didnt visit oftenly to foyer, what you you do ? *grin*

I generally look around for my mommy!

[mfortuna]

Neato's turn and scan is a much more refined behaviour than another brand's bewildering spins

Until your LIDAR fails!

At least on respected RR member has both robots, and according to him the one with bewildering spins cleans just as well as the Neato.

As soon as one of my 6+ year old Roomba Reds dies I will probably get a Neato. But I will probably get bored watching it. My Mint bores me as well, until it gets stuck!

[OntheWay]

When you enter a big mall (those remembers labyrinths) for the first time, or when you leave a theater you didnt visit oftenly to foyer, what you you do ? *grin*

I generally look around for my mommy!

Then this is what it does, question answered! (I was wondering why it keep hugging the canister sitting in a corner Dont open your brand new neato box when the canister in vicinity)

[Fraggboy]

Neato's turn and scan is a much more refined behaviour than another brand's bewildering spins

Until your LIDAR fails!

At least on respected RR member has both robots, and according to him the one with bewildering spins cleans just as well as the Neato.

As soon as one of my 6+ year old Roomba Reds dies I will probably get a Neato. But I will probably get bored watching it. My Mint bores me as well, until it gets stuck!

ROFL.. I have to agree about the "bewildering spin" robotic vacuum does a pretty good job in cleaning as well. I have owned both, and I have to say they were both on-par in keeping my home clean regardless of navigation. At least the 'other' robotic vacuum has a 'dumb' side-spinning brush.

[JEfromCanada]

I am PRAYING for a bristle brush! My carpet is SO DIRTY after a few weeks of Neato leaving behind dog hair - just one run of my Roomba clears up weeks worth of missed hair pickup.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE my Neato and its smart navigation. I just wish it could clean as effectively as Roomba. I have to refer back to the Spanish site's comparison test of XV-15 vs. Roomba 560. Roomba blows Neato away in effectiveness. I wish it were not so!

[Fraggboy]

Have you checked out the other thread where they use a VR100 brush with bristles? That post is: here.

They claim it picks up better, but you have to clean the brush more often (Like the Roomba).

Might help for you?

[JEfromCanada]

Have you checked out the other thread where they use a VR100 brush with bristles?

Yes, I have checked out that other thread. I didn't see anything about it being tested by someone with pets. Of course, I assume a brush will require more maintenance than a simple beater bar. The questions is: how much maintenance? It can't possibly be as bad as the Roomba's maintenance (10-15 minutes to clean after each run!)

[Fraggboy]

Oh yea. It would just require cleaning the brushes and brush ends more often, but I'm sure it would pick up more pet hair.