Me and My NaviBot, Day 1: A New Member of the Family

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Given that we recently received one of Samsung's NaviBot SR8855 robotic vacuum cleaners, I thought the best way to test it would be to let the thing lose in my very own home.

Me and my NaviBot: Day 1

As of today, the Samsung SR8855 robotic vacuum cleaner is the newest addition to our household, which also includes three children, aged two, four and six, one guinea pig and me, of course.

With the kids busy watching Puss in Boots, I managed to slip discreetly into the living room, plug in the SR8855 base and set off the NaviBot in Auto mode.

BRRRRRRRUM! Off goes the SR8855 (noisily) working its way around the room. Almost instantaneously, my three daughters and their two friends lose all interest in their film and want to know all about this little blue thing scooting around the floor. They all quickly understood what it was too, shouting 'a robot, a robot'. Interestingly though, some adults who joined us later that evening couldn't guess what the NaviBot was when they saw it moving around the room.

Anyway, back to the kids and their new favourite toy. We all know that children can have a something of a mean streak (especially Lola) and the little angels soon set to work putting all kinds of obstacles in the NaviBot's way. With toys, their feet, pens, sawdust and even Clara the guinea pig soon placed in its path, the NaviBot had to fight its way out of a kind of vacuum cleaner Crystal Maze.


The first no-no is felt tips, as the NaviBot just ends up dragging them around the floor. You'll also have to be careful with toys, especially small bits and pieces like Lego which could get sucked up!

The product spec advertises a battery life of 120 m². However, amid all the excitement I still haven't quite had time to read the instructions (I'll get round to that soon). So far, the SR8855 seems to clean our 25 m² living room in 15-20 minutes. It moves around in what looks like a fairly random manner, but it does seem to cover pretty much all the room and then automatically returns to its charging base. But wait? What about the corridor and the kitchen? No chance! It looks like the NaviBot has tired itself out and now just wants to go back to its base. It's visibly running out of steam and is a bit of a sorry sight to be honest. You should have seen the worried look on the kids' faces watching the tired little robot looking desperately for its base!

• Is it going home, Dad?
  
• Yes.
• Vincent, can I help it?
• No.
• Me too, I want to help it too.
• No.
• But Dad, it's not going to make it, we'll have to carry it back.
• No, no and no! Let's see if it can make it back on its own. 

First impressions of the living room test

It's acceptable. I'd give it three stars (it never stops, we give everything a score in our house). The NaviBot has cleaned pretty much everywhere, even under the curtains and alongside the sofa, and no-one got hurt in the process. In fact, even if you're in one of its blind spots and it can't detect you, the NaviBot doesn't hurt at all if it knocks into you as its brushes are soft and flexible.

I did, however, notice some bits of sawdust left next to the furniture, as the SR8855 couldn't seem to get under the chairs properly as it got lost among all their feet. And with 20 different feet around the table, I'm not surprised it got confused.

A few bits of sawdust aren't that serious, it's just a little annoying, as I had to get out my main vac to finish off the job.


Then five seconds later the room was clean and finally quiet! Plus, pushing around my regular vac was certainly quicker and more powerful than the NaviBot.

In the next episode of my adventures with the NaviBot, we'll be heading for the uncharted territory of the kids' bedroom and its thick rug encrusted with all kinds of bits, threads, crumbs and mess, plenty of furniture for the robot to pass under (or not) and toys all over the place.

It'll be a real clash of the titans too, as NaviBot goes head to head against Nathalie the cleaning lady!


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