Tired of mopping the floors and wishing for an easier way to get the chore done? You're in luck as iRobot has answered your prayers! Meet the Braava Jet Mopping Robot, which will make cleaning floors a lot easier.
On Tuesday, iRobot launched the latest mopping robot in its line-up. However, unlike its siblings, the Braava Jet Mopping Robot is not priced high and will retail at an affordable $199.
"A lot of floor plans have lots of nooks and crannies, so we're adding a robot that can get into the smaller spaces," noted Kristy Catsouphes, product manager for the Braava Jet.
The Braava Jet Mopping Robot is basically a battery-powered bot that uses jet spray and its vibrating head to scrub and mop floors with ease.
The square-shaped device is lightweight and deploys a sensor and gyroscope to make its way through a room. The device is quite compact — it is tinier than a shoebox — and can be stored with ease.
The iRobot mopbot has three modes for cleaning: dry sweeping, wet mopping (cleaning floors with detergent and water) and damp sweeping (uses only 60 percent of water compared to wet mode).
Each mode works in tandem with its own pad, which can be snapped on to the bottom of the Braava Jet Mopping Robot.
The device is quite lightweight and weighs just 2.7 pounds. Its compact 6.7 inches by 3.3 inches size makes it perfect to clean corners. However, it is not small enough to access cramped nooks and corners such as those behind the toilet.
The bot is capable of holding a maximum of 150 ml water in its tank, just over 5 ounces, which is sufficient for 150-square feet of space if using wet-mopping mode or 200-square feet if one uses the dry or damp cleaning modes.
For those wondering where the detergent will be placed — you don't need to — it is on the detachable pads. Therefore, one will not be clogging the nozzles potentially. The mopbot also moves back and forth, creates V-shaped patterns and cleans systematically subject to the mode one is using for cleaning.
The Braava Jet Mopping Robot also has an optical sensor on the bottom which is able to "read" the patterns on the cleaning pads, which helps it select the mode of cleaning. This is a clever means to know the mode, as the bot comes with only a single button.
However, the device cannot be controlled through a mobile app or a remote and does not automatically return to the charging dock when running low on power.
The Braava Jet Mopping Robot is available for purchase on www.iRobot.com and will set you back $199. The device will come with some cleaning pads. However, once these run out one will need to shell out $7.99 for a box which has 10 pads. The device will hit retail shelves on April 1.
