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Dyson 360 Eye

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Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#111

Post by JoeAltmaier »

patrickk wrote: post #106
veidr wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I think this already happened. About half the families I know have a Roomba robot vacuum or a knockoff. But it's a big step from vacuuming floors to mowing lawns with sharp blades. I don't personally have a leaf problem, but I would very much like to see a clever window-washing robot. Could be -- would preferably be! -- very slow and small. Something that runs constantly and could go home and charge/clean itsel…

Lawn mowing robots have been around for a while already: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2_AIWFO77s

I'd like a low-speed dog-and-kid-friendly mowing bot. A sort of solar-powered turtle that just chews the grass down, wandering around all its life inside an electric fence.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#112

Post by sourc3 »

ModernMech wrote: post #31
bglazer wrote: post #26

Lots of negativity in the comments. A couple questions: 1. For the robotics people, is the "360° eye" camera an innovation, or is this already a standard component of robotic vision? 2. What's the next step for robotics in the house after vacuums?

1. It's been around for a long time 2. I'd like something to put my dishes away and fold my laundry. That's a much bigger step though.

3. Self cleaning coffee-machine is on my list. I don't quite enjoy drinking coffee that comes out of a capsule.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#114

Post by wlievens »

tonylemesmer wrote: post #97

I worked on this product back in 2002-2005. I developed the initial wheel system for this and early prototypes of their digital (switched reluctance) motor once we realised we'd need a very high power density compressor motor. Sadly the battery technology has taken a long time to get to the point where it can now give a useable run time, even when the vacuum only consumes 100W (typical cabled vacuums use 1.7-2kw). Al…

Do you know which image sensors it uses?

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#115

Post by arrrg »

veidr wrote: post #63
melling wrote: post #54

So, the HN comments are pretty much negative. People seem to be overlooking the most important thing. A hugely successful product in this category will be the spark that launches the home robotics revolution. More players, more money invested, etc. I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.

Well, I think this already happened. About half the families I know have a Roomba robot vacuum or a knockoff. But it's a big step from vacuuming floors to mowing lawns with sharp blades. I don't personally have a leaf problem, but I would very much like to see a clever window-washing robot. Could be -- would preferably be! -- very slow and small. Something that runs constantly and could go home and charge/clean itsel…

Why don’t people know about mowing robots?

My parents had one for about a year now. They use it to mow their huge garden. It has worked extremely well throughout this summer.

It got stuck maybe three or four times at the start of summer, when they were playing around with the boundaries to make sure it gets to as many places as possible and doesn’t push itself outside the boundaries because of some tight spot. It seems those problems are solved now. Maintenance is checking the blades every couple of weeks (and exchanging broken or dull ones once or twice a year) and brushing it off a bit.

These mowing robots have been around for decades now. You basically lay a cable (on the surface or slightly underground) all around your garden and big, permanent obstacles and set up a charging station.

Depending on the size of your garden the mower drives around several hours a day, several days a week. During this it is practically completely quiet. Whatever it cuts off it just leaves on the grass. Since it is permanently cutting that’s not an issue at all and not even noticeable.

It basically drives around randomly, but maybe has features like focusing on a certain area when it encounters especially thick grass somewhere. (I think newer ones have GPS, too, but this hasn’t really been necessary at all in my parent’s case.)

The mower will automatically shut down when it bumps into something (and it will try to find another way around it) and it will also stop when lifted up.

My parent’s robot always found back to its charging station on its own this summer, except those couple times it got stuck when they were still experimenting with boundaries. And that’s despite my parents having a quite complicated and large garden.

The result is a lawn that looks better than ever before (basically always like it was just mowed) and extremely even. Also, my parents can now focus on the gardening they actually enjoy (and they aren’t the youngest anymore, which is not ideal if you have to mow a huge garden manually).

I don’t think I would want this robot driving around with a toddler on the lawn, but that’s about it.

This problem is solved and robots do an excellent job.

(Here is the brand of robot my parents use: http://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-mowers/husqvarn... There are many others.)

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#116

Post by JoeAltmaier »

arrrg wrote: post #115
veidr wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I think this already happened. About half the families I know have a Roomba robot vacuum or a knockoff. But it's a big step from vacuuming floors to mowing lawns with sharp blades. I don't personally have a leaf problem, but I would very much like to see a clever window-washing robot. Could be -- would preferably be! -- very slow and small. Something that runs constantly and could go home and charge/clean itsel…

Why don’t people know about mowing robots? My parents had one for about a year now. They use it to mow their huge garden. It has worked extremely well throughout this summer. It got stuck maybe three or four times at the start of summer, when they were playing around with the boundaries to make sure it gets to as many places as possible and doesn’t push itself outside the boundaries because of some tight spot. It see…

That's it! That's the mower I've been waiting all my life for! How fast does it go? What's it powered by? I imagined when this got invented it'd go real slow, and be solar powered so it never had to stop. But this one is cool too.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#117

Post by veidr »

arrrg wrote: post #115
veidr wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, I think this already happened. About half the families I know have a Roomba robot vacuum or a knockoff. But it's a big step from vacuuming floors to mowing lawns with sharp blades. I don't personally have a leaf problem, but I would very much like to see a clever window-washing robot. Could be -- would preferably be! -- very slow and small. Something that runs constantly and could go home and charge/clean itsel…

Why don’t people know about mowing robots? My parents had one for about a year now. They use it to mow their huge garden. It has worked extremely well throughout this summer. It got stuck maybe three or four times at the start of summer, when they were playing around with the boundaries to make sure it gets to as many places as possible and doesn’t push itself outside the boundaries because of some tight spot. It see…

Looks great. I don't know why I didn't know about these yet (well, most likely because I live in an apartment with no lawn), but thanks to you and patrickk in this thread I do. (His video link is very informative, btw).

A robo-mower would have indeed made a better housewarming gift for my sister than the cordless Dyson I bought her (same as mine)... although it would have set me back $2,300 instead of $300.

Still, very cool.

OK floors and lawns, ✓ DONE! Next somebody please point me to the already-existing window-washing robot.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#118

Post by sjs382 »

jonnydark wrote: post #94
sjs382 wrote: post #75

It looks tall . So tall that it might not fit under my couch or under the first-level of some tables. Anyone know the dimensions of this?

Haven't got a ruler to hand but it's about 4-5 inches. It's not very wide compared to others, hence why it looks tall.

My Roomba is (according to the specs online) 3.6" tall.

I'm trying to imagine the Roomba height in relation to the couch and tables... Another inch or 2 might be a deal breaker for me.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#119

Post by sjs382 »

wcchandler wrote: post #80
melling wrote: post #54

So, the HN comments are pretty much negative. People seem to be overlooking the most important thing. A hugely successful product in this category will be the spark that launches the home robotics revolution. More players, more money invested, etc. I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now.

> I'm really not sure why robots aren't already vacuuming our floors, raking the leaves and mowing our lawns by now I think about this every time I mow my lawn. I had this crazy vision: Take a flatbed trailer and hook up "charging pods". Invest in some robot lawn mowers. This would be fun as they'll probably need to be built yourself. They could have a deck size of whatever (12" ?) with big batteries, solar collector…

Robot lawnmowers already exist. They aren't cheap, though if you have a significant sized lawn and consider your hourly rate.... Hrmmm...

Personally, I don't mind mowing the lawn. Yard work is my "me time" to tune out the world and relieve some stress.

Re: Dyson 360 Eye

#120

Post by teach »

noir_lord wrote: post #50
veidr wrote: post #3

I always thought Dyson was crap, based solely on their obnoxious ads and garish design. Then I bought my wife their cordless upright vacuum for her birthday (I know, I know, but she asked for it). I was astonished when the vacuum became my favorite piece of tech in the whole house. We have a roomba that works fine, but it's extremely hard to imagine that I won't buy this thing immediately.

I have a Dyson DCO7 which was manufactured in 2001 (my gran bought it and I inherited it). It is literally as good as the day I got it, I recently had to "service" it (removing two foam filters with two clips and run them under the tap is hardly servicing) and that is the only time I've had to do anything to it in over a decade. They cost more but are worth absolutely every penny, they also prove that a focus on qual…

I think you'll be sadly disappointed if you buy a new Dyson.

My wife and I bought one about a year ago. It was great for a week, but now suction is average and we are constantly having to remove and clean various filters to get it to work well.

I suspect Dyson did use to focus on quality, design and longevity but that a few years ago they started selling quite average vacuums but still charging a premium for their "good name".

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