You just bought a robot vacuum and expected it to replace you from that chore. You are supposed to only touch the dust bin of your robot vacuum to empty it once in a while. Your robot vacuum seems to be so reliable and effective.
Until one day.
You woke up in the morning, thinking whether you should make yourself a nice cup of coffee or a cup of tea. As you walked toward the living room, you frowned.
“What’s that smell?” you thought.
You walked 2 steps closer, and you nearly froze at what you saw.
Your robot vacuum smeared your pet’s poop all over the living room, from the hard floor to the carpet. You even saw a big chunk of poop stuck on your furniture legs.
A war zone of poop.
This is a true story. It happened to many people. From funny to not-so-funny stories, especially when it happens to you.
Here comes the golden question: Do robot vacuums detect poop?
Do Robot Vacuums Detect Poop?
Not all robot vacuums can detect poop. A regular robot vacuum is likely to run over the poop and smear it around your house. Only high-end robot vacuums with some specific advanced navigation and detection system like LiDAR, Obstacle Avoidance, or even AI can detect poop and avoid it. However, not all robot vacuums with LiDAR, Obstacle Avoidance, or AI can detect poop.
A low-end robot vacuum with a bump-and-run navigation system can cause a poop disaster when your pet leaves some mess on the floor as the robot vacuum cannot “bump” into the poop.
Modern robot vacuums, even equipped with more advanced navigation systems, often have a single sensor or camera to “see” things. While this helps them to be aware of potential obstacles in their way, often it doesn’t support them to recognize the obstacles and judge their sizes.
Some special robot vacuums have unique and advanced features that can support them in judging obstacles’ sizes, drawing a 3D view of the surroundings to recognize the obstacles and decide the next moves. Some Roomba models can recognize poop, send you a picture and ask you whether to avoid the poop or run around it. Other robot vacuums, once recognize the poop, will avoid it by default.
These Robot Vacuums Can Detect Poop
iRobot Roomba j7 and j7+
To do this, iRobot created a huge data of fake pet mess to train their AI vision system. iRobot is very confident about the poop-detection ability of the j7 and j7+. If they fail, iRobot will send you a new one for free!
Reality test? Not that perfect.
Let’s be real. Not all pet poops are the same. And life happens. But the best thing about this is that they will replace the failed one for you.
Roborock S7 MaxV
As one of the biggest players in the robot vacuum market, Roborock also released their poop-detection robot vacuum model: S7 MaxV.
This Roborock S7 MaxV features advanced obstacle avoidance technology by using an RGB camera and a neural processing unit. When the room is dark, it will automatically turn on another light to recognize the obstacles. It has a 3D structured light system to spot obstacles, and “see” their size and location. From there, the robot navigates around the obstacles, not run over them.
It sounds perfect. But is it for real?
Some people commented that it works for them most of the time, but for the less lucky ones, it doesn’t.
Unlike iRobot, Roborock doesn’t guarantee their S7 MaxV will avoid the poop. So there is no replacement if you accidentally encounter that situation.
Trifo Lucy Ultra
With a High-Precision Obstacle Avoidance technology, the Trifo Lucy Ultra can identify shorter and slimmer objects on the ground, even items down to 1 inch while other obstacle detection features of other brands cannot recognize things that are shorter than 3 to 4 inches.
With the self-learning AI, the more you let this robot vacuum runs, the better it gets. It is also compatible with Alexa.
360 S10 Robot Vacuum
Another surprise from a smaller player in the robot vacuum market with a much more affordable price compared to the first 2 in this list.
Even though it is cheaper, it does a great job in object detection and poop avoidance.
The manufacturer also highlighted that this S10 360 can detect objects taller than 0.4”, and may not be able to detect liquids.
So in a perfect world, when your pet makes a mess in a house, this robot vacuum will not smear it all over your floor. However, in case your pet has a digestive problem, things can become quite messy.
Conclusion
Buying a robot vacuum for pet owners doesn’t need to be a hazard. You don’t have to say goodbye to modern technology that can automate your chores just because of your pet. These smart robot vacuums can at least give you peace of mind, knowing that you have a very limited risk of having a pooptastrophe.
