There are countless videos on YouTube of robot vacuum cleaners taking a fall down a flight of stairs, not having detected the edge of the floor until the last moment. While amusing to watch, it's entirely inconvenient and can cost you a fair bit if the vacuum breaks.

Thankfully, most robot vacuum cleaners now come equipped with edge detection technology and infra-red sensors that prevent your new friend from taking a tumble. These sensors bounce off the floor, measuring the distance between the unit and the surface, enabling the vacuum to recognize when it's nearing an edge so that it can adjust its course.

What is a robot vacuum cleaner?

Robot vacuums are autonomous vacuums that can clean your floors without the effort required with a traditional vac.

Generally, a robot vacuum cleaner is suitable for cleaning homes that have mainly hard floors. For those with pets, a robot vacuum cleaner can help prevent a build-up of fluff and pet hair. However, while robot vacuum cleaners can come with high-tech features, they're actually not as good as traditional vacuums at picking up dirt, especially on carpets.

Robot vacuums can push dirt deeper into the pile of a carpet and eventually damage the carpet. If you have carpet but still want the convenience of a robot vacuum, it's worth investing in a model specifically designed to handle the challenges of carpet.

If you have hard floors, robot vacuums still struggle to clean corners and along edges so you'll need to have a backup vacuum for those hard-to-reach areas.

Source: https://wisereview.com.au/best-robot-vacuums.html