That’s why the red tape marking the maze is really only there for the video. The player sees a virtual representation on screen, and the ghost roombas use internal odometry with a positioning system to find their way around and avoid each other.

Now they just need those LED-lights that make Pac-Man chomp in the dark. [Roomba Pac-Man via Engadget]

Built using our spare time, Roomba Pac-Man is designed to showcase the extensive Unmanned Aerial System software suite that we have developed to support our personal research. It was also a great opportunity to use some of our skills for our own entertainment. As a disclaimer, our research centre, RECUV, is not affiliated with the project, and the work done here, while utilizing some software we were paid to develop at CU, is the sole creation of those listed at the bottom of the page.

Granted, there’s at least the peace of mind that this pervy lil’ vacuum has enough sensors to avoid me properly after making me feel violated. [Akihabara News]

The Price

D31 (orange): $US220
D31 Animal (purple): $US270

The Difference

The stock D31 and the D31 Animal are essentially the same vacuum. They contain the same motor, the same battery capacity and the same accessories…save for one. The Animal has a motorised hair-scraping attachment (familiar to many Dyson users) that requires a power line be run to the nozzle. Otherwise, they’re pretty much identical.

The Results: After about three days of my cat’s lounging, our couch tops get wretched. Our general solution is to take a vacuum hose, then do a cleanup with one of those sticky pet hair brushes. It’s labour intensive, and I’d be lying if I said we were willing to go through the process more than once a week. So I tried the D31 Animal. Pulling the trigger, it whirs to 0-100 instantly, like a power drill, while a hairdryer-worthy gust of air fires from the back.

Couch before Animal attack.

Couch after Animal attack.

Here’s our couch before and after about five minutes of vacuuming with the Animal. Eighty per cent of the hair came up after two quick passes—really impressive stuff. But that last 20 per cent stuck around for a while. And even after several minutes, and even hitting the boost power button, the results weren’t perfect (you can see a few stubborn stray hairs). But they were adequate—and maybe even more importantly—as successful as my full-sized standup Animal vacuum (which has worked better than other nice vacuums I’ve tried). That’s pretty impressive since we’re talking about a 1kg handheld vac.

Other vacuuming jobs are less exciting, but completely effective. Using the brush and corner attachment, any little particle you can imagine disappears into the machine. I can’t imagine a small job it couldn’t handle other than carpets. If you want to spot clean your rug, the base D31 doesn’t really have an attachment for that (the Animal brush sorta works with a price premium). But dust, loose dirty, little pieces of unidentified food—no problem. And all the junk empties out of the one-button release hatch at the bottom of the collection tank…save for fur, which will make you dig a bit.

The Nitpicking

I’d like one feature added to the D31/Animal: cruise control. As pitiful as this sounds, it gets tiring holding down the button. I know. Mock me. But while the vacuum is light as can be to your arm, your hand still gets exhausted squeezing the trigger.

You’ll also only get 10 minutes of run time (or 6 in high power mode) for 3.5 hours of charging. That’s actually more than enough time to complete most work (you don’t really go nonstop with anything but pet hair), but when you run out of juice (the device goes from 100% per centto none without warning) you can’t just continue vacuuming with a power cord. You’ll need to recharge and wait.

The Practicality

Ignoring the price for a moment, I wonder who would actually need this much power in a handvac—other than for the obvious—pet owners. Because the D31 can’t (and isn’t trying to) replace a full-sized vacuum, meaning it’s only going to serve as backup. But then again, if you have the extra cash to pick up one of your own, maybe your chief concern isn’t one of pure practicality. And I can’t completely fault you for that. [Dyson]

Light and manageable design

Lots and lots of power

The Animal attachment cuts through hair well

Run time is adequate but not very long

Trigger can be tiring to hold

No carpet attachment for spot cleaning

I mean, obviously, we’re talking about $US220+ dust busters here

According to the product page, the vacuum weighs about 3kg and features a “commercial grade serviceable motor.” If this kind of cleaning convenience sounds appealing to you, expect the BucketVac to hit store shelves sometime before the end of the 4Q of this year. [BucketVac via Red Ferret via OhGizmo]

There aren’t any official pics yet – the pic above is by Filip Osowski and was designed as part of a competition for “rejected transformers”. But the move makes sense – no other vacuum cleaner is quite as striking as Dyson’s range, and if you could imagine any vacuum transforming into a man-killing robot, the DC25 would be it…

Roombas have evolved over the years into a fairlyimpressive product, except when it comes to corners. Apparently bothered by this, iRobot’s engineers have patented a Roomba with a corner specialty. The secret trick: it’s square.

Roombas have traditionally avoided angular designs in the pursuit of maneuverability, settling on circular shapes that lend themselves well to the vacuum’s omnidirectional cleaning habits. This new, squared-off tank-like design might necessitate more complicated vacuuming approaches for certain scenarios, but it’s not like efficiency of movement is their forte anyway.

This is just a patent application, the likes of which iRobot has a small habit of leaving to die, so this could just be another Roomba Mower, lost and forgotten in the archives of the patent office. Also, the Roomba corner problem? Not that big of a deal! Their current spinning brush solution is passable, and I’m not sure changing their iconic design would even be worth it. [Robot Stock News]

What’s new about the DC28 is the “Airmuscle” tech, which does this:

• “Powered Cam” – Only lowers and raises the brush bar instead of the whole head for different floor types
• “Pneumatic Actuator” – Seals the cleaner head to the floor to create more suction
• “High-torque clutch” – More torque on the brush bar to jostle loose more dirt

Other new features include the fingertip controls that adjust the height of the brush bar, four separate head attachments for different areas/environments of the house and a $US600 price tag. Yes, we’re counting it being the most expensive of Dyson’s uprights as a feature.

We haven’t had enough time with the vac to do a long-term assessment of it, but we did try it enough to get a feel for what it can do—a lot. On carpets, it’s strong enough to pick up small pieces of debris (as well as lots of dust) in just one pass. It’s as good on tile.

What’s somewhat surprising to us is that the DC28 isn’t not all that much louder than the smaller ball vacuums. It’s much heavier and powerful, for sure, but it’s more like a gentle giant than a screaming behemoth.

From our quick impressions, the new head with the Airmuscle technology seems to be a at least a step in the right direction. Is it worth $US600? Only if your old vacuum is horrible, or this is your first vacuum, or if you’re a really, really dirty person. [Dyson Animal]

This is what happens when a Roomba gets kicked around by abusive parents—it rebels against society, joins a gang and vandalises our communities.

Apparently this Roomba has been modified with inkjet printer parts so it can create bitmap patterns on the floor with coloured powders. Damn you rebel Roomba! Cut your hair, stop snorting “powder”, get a job and create civilized art like your brother! [Botropolis]