Just like your cat, Samsung’s upcoming robovac chases laser pointers

By Drew Prindle August 5, 2014

samsung vr9000h screen shot 2014 08 05 at 2 19 14 pm — Image used with permission by copyright holder

You might know Samsung as the purveyor of gigantic flatscreen TVs and ridiculously-advanced smartphones, but did you know it also makes a pretty mean robotic vacuum cleaner? The company’s actually been pumping out Roomba-esque floor cleaners for a while now, and now it’s got a new one in the works that’s unlike any robovac we’ve ever laid eyes on.

For starters, as far as household robots go, the VR9000H looks like a freaking tank. Instead of going with the oversized hockey-puck look that so many robotic vacuum companies are fond of, Samsung chose to leave the bot’s powerful innards partially exposed.

Under the hood, Samsung equipped this badboy with a digital inverter motor (no exact specs yet) that reportedly creates up to five times as much suction as the nearest competitor bot. It’s also got a cyclonic separation chamber which forces dirt particles into the dustbin and only allows clean air to pass through to the second chamber and be released. It’s the same technique used in many full-size bagless vacuums, and it means you’ll never have to clean a filter to keep it running properly.

Much like the company’s previous vacuums, the VR9000H is also equipped with Samsung’s Full View sensor technology that, along with special navigation algorithms, allows the bot to identify its surroundings and avoid obstacles as it cleans.

But the coolest feature, by far, is this: In addition to a wide range of autonomous cleaning modes, Samsung gave the VR9000H the ability to follow a laser. Using a special handheld laser pointer, you can direct the bot around and spot clean a given room without having to manually push it around. Necessary? Probably not. Awesome? Without a doubt. Even if you’d never use this feature to clean your floors, just imagine how great it’d be to pit your cat against your vacuum in a game of chase-the-dot!

The Samsung VR9000H vacuum cleaner is set to his store shelves in Europe this September, with a release in the US scheduled shortly thereafter.

[via Appliancist]

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Drew Prindle is an award-winning writer, editor, and storyteller who currently serves as Senior Features Editor for Digital…

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