iRobot's latest Roomba can detect pet poop

Over the past two decades, iRobot has constantly evolved the Roomba, turning them from fairly dumb robot vacuums into devices smart enough to empty their own dustbins. Now the company has unveiled the Roomba j7+ for $849 and is ready to take on its toughest task yet: pet poop. 

This is iRobot's first robot vacuum that can recognize obstacles, such as cables or piles of clothes, and avoid them in real time. For pet owners, this device could finally make robot vacuums worth using. 

After all, you can't trust a robot to clean while you're away if it might run into surprises left by your furry friends. That's a real disaster that could spread feces throughout the house, not to mention that your beloved robot vacuum could break.

To solve this problem and ease customer concerns, iRobot makes an official promise to all pet owners: if your j7+ breaks down within the first year of use, the company will replace the vacuum with a new one. 

This should go a long way toward making pet owners feel more comfortable with Roomba. Still, it would be better if this offer lasted longer than just one year. 

Although the j7+ is technically the company's smartest vacuum, it is not the most powerful robot vacuum, since that honor still belongs to the s9+ at $1299. The new model is essentially a Roomba i7+ with a more powerful camera, better sensors, and much greater computing power. It can also automatically empty its dustbin into the recycled Clean Base dock, which is shorter and sleeker than previous models. 

Now vacuum owners can tuck the dock into an inconspicuous corner or under a table instead of setting aside space for iRobot's tall monolith. Thanks to PrecisionVision Navigation, iRobot's marketing term for AI-powered computer vision, the j7+ can detect specific objects and also warn you about obstacles in the iRobot app after cleaning. 

Obstacles can be marked as permanent or temporary, which helps the robot vacuum learn to handle such problems in the future. If there is always a pile of cords in one corner, the j7+ will simply stop cleaning that spot permanently. However, if it is just a headphone cable you dropped on the floor, the robot may go back over that area later. The device can truly see and interpret your rooms, which helps the j7+ clean walls and furniture more gently. 

Because the bot relies on computer vision, the company had to train new models to help the j7+ recognize objects at floor level. According to CEO Colin Angle, the robot can currently recognize a pair of wired headphones on the ground, but ultimately it will also handle shoes and socks. 

When it came to recognizing pet poop, the company took photos using plasticine models as well as images from employees to create one of the most unusual machine learning models. According to Angle, iRobot plans to bring the j7+ sensors to future models, but they would like to make them such that more people buy the devices. 

As much as you may like the expensive s9+, it is an unwise purchase when there are cheaper self-emptying Roombas. The j7+ runs on iRobot's new Genius 3.0 software, which will also be installed on the company's other vacuums. It is based on features introduced in 2020, including an improved mobile app, smarter scheduling, and standard triggers. 

All of this became possible thanks to adding cleaning time estimates, as well as the ability to clean automatically when owners are away. The new features also let vacuums automatically suggest room names when mapping your home. If you send your bot to clean a single room, it can move quietly through the house until it reaches the work area. 

Even if you haven't tried the j7+ yet, it is clear that iRobot has tackled a persistent problem with robot vacuums: trust. Early Roomba models required constant supervision, especially if there were children at home. In addition, you used to have to pick up everything loose from the floors so the robot wouldn't get into trouble or get stuck somewhere. 

If iRobot has truly developed a device that can handle obstacles on its own, the company may finally have the perfect product for people who hate cleaning. At the very least, it would be nice to have a home device you can trust, even if it runs into cat poop.