Let's face it: only the most clean-maniacs like certain chores. For mere mortals, however, vacuuming or scrubbing the floors is the least of the activities they would want to do. And then there are the stairs…
Migo Robotics' "vertical" answer
For 25 years (it seems like yesterday!) robot vacuum cleaners have come to our rescue to make our lives easier. They evolve, improve, gradually become more precise and silent. None of them, however, had managed to solve the problem of cleaning rooms spread over several floors, perhaps by climbing the stairs alone.
Well, that's exactly what Ascender does, the latest creation from Migo Robotics, a novelty ready to revolutionize the world of cleaning.
And it sure looks like they're not bluffing: The Migo Robotics team is made up of experts from Google, Boston Dynamics, Dyson and Ecovacs. Although Ascender is the first product they launch, expectations are very high.
The characteristics of the new robot vacuum cleaner
The new model of robot vacuum cleaner is not only capable of tackling stair cleaning, but it does it with an extra touch. “Multi-floor cleaning has never been easier,” the company website states.
Ascender is not limited to being a vacuum cleaner with a suction power of 6kPa. It can also wash floors of up to 480 square meters. Its technology is based on scanners LiDAR for vision and for climbing stairs, guaranteeing unprecedented environmental sensitivity and an ability to reconstruct the context.
Here's how it works
The way Ascender works is fascinating: the rectangular body rises up to the next step, while the two "legs" remain on the ground. Once the body is positioned on the top step, the legs bend and lift to join the rest of the body. At that point, Ascender gets to work like any other robotic vacuum cleaner.
Take a look at the video:
The future of cleaning is uphill (and that's good news)
Migo's guys are ready before the others, but the time for such solutions is ripe: other players (including Dyson, a leading player in the vacuum cleaner sector) are also working on things similar to Ascender. Dyson actually declares that his product will be able to open drawers and interact with the environment.
If everything goes as it should, "vertical" cleaning will be a standard in the coming years, and companies will compete to see who gets on the podium first.