Smart House III: The Rise of the Machines

You are now a smart home believer, and have taken the full plunge into home automation.  No fear of Skynet here.  You have your thermostat, lights, appliances, etc., all controlled and able to be accessed by your smart device.  You are ready for the next evolution in smart technology for the home, and it is that parts of the smart house can now clean itself.  By now, most people are familiar with iRobot’s groundbreaking technology of a vacuum that cleans on its own.  There are several models out there depending on your cleaning needs and level of involvement you want to exert.  All will run on their own and can move around obstacles and avoid stairs, but some offer spot treating and remote control access for you to drive to a particular area.  There are even options for when you want a sweeper for hard surfaces or a deeper vacuum for carpet.  All have a rechargeable battery and the newer models have a charging base that the Roomba will return to after a cleaning cycle.  What about a smart device that does windows?  Evovacs Winbot is the new device on the market that is turning all heads.  It suctions to a window or mirror, crisscrosses the surface and cleans it with the use of a cleaning pad, squeegee, and drying pad.  It will keep cleaning until there is absolutely no trace of dirt or dust on the surface.  That certainly makes my day. 

So the inside of the house has started to be taken care of, but what about the outside.  Have no fear, landscaping and cleaning the outside of your home just got easier too.  Tired of the mowing your lawn week after week and wish there was some way to get out of that backbreaking chore.  Welcome a Honda Miimo into your life.  This is a new roving lawnmower that works like a Roomba.  Once you install the perimeter wire that will prevent the Miimo from wandering into your neighbors’ yards, all you have to do is set how high you want your grass.  Over the next seven days, the Miimo will cut your grass while you sit and relax.   It mows in a random pattern and will change directions when it encounters an obstacle.  What’s even better is that since it only cuts 3 millimeters of grass with each pass, the clippings are small enough to leave them as they fall and will act as fertilizer for the lawn.  Tired of cleaning your gutters month after month, iRobot has done it again and introduced something to help you there too.  Their Looj 330 will take on that job for you and will kick out debris and muck while you relax.  You will still need to climb up on a ladder to set it and for manual control for tougher blockages, but for the basic cleaning, set it on automatic and have your gutters free of debris faster and safer than when you do it yourself.  I wonder where home automation will take us next.