News and Reviews about Evolution Robotics new Mint Cleaner Robot Floor Sweeper

This video shows how the the Mint automatic floor cleaner is smart. It uses a NorthStar beacon to track its progress around a room so that it won’t miss any spots while it is sweeping a room. Because it uses navigation technology, it cleans floors in a methodical, systematic way which is very efficient.

Designed into the robot is “perfect edge technology”. The Mint robot uses this to find edges and follow them in such a way that it won’t miss corners. It picks up dirt that gets pushed into edges. The Mint automatic cleaner comes equipped with a bunch of sensors to help it navigate. These help the cleaner avoid area rugs and carpets, and will also keep the robot from driving off of steps or down the stairs.

The Mint automatic floor cleaner was awarded the best new product at the 2010 CES by Popular Mechanics. See their write-up of the Mint, here. Popular Mechanics also gave the same award to other products at the show. Everything from Skype TV, to a Kodak digital picture frame, to the Qualcomm Snapdragon Chipset. Obviously, a lot of these products aren’t going to make it to the market, but we’re hoping that the Mint will.

We also have updated information on how much floor a Mint expected to be able to cover on a single battery charge. The Mint is expected to operate three to four hours on a charge, and can cover around 1000 square feet during that time. This ends up being better than the amount a Roomba can cover in the same amount of time, which makes sense, considering a Roomba vacuum cleaner covers the same space in a more haphazard manner. The Mint floor cleaner actually maps out the space and covers it methodically.

What remains to be seen is if consumers will spend that much money for something that doesn’t suck. (Get it?)