Neato XV-11 Update: Your Vacuum Just Got Smarter

Neato releases a free update for their XV-11 robot vacuum, including navigation enhancements and a new cleaning mode

2 min read

Neato XV-11 Update: Your Vacuum Just Got Smarter

The Neato Robotics XV-11 robot vacuum comes with a USB port for downloadable updates. And why shouldn't it? It's a robot, and one of the great things about robots is that you can teach them new stuff and make them smarter. While it's one thing to talk about firmware updates and new features in the abstract (which we hear a lot), it's quite another to put time and energy into developing them, and it's something else entirely to then offer said upgrades to your customers for free. This is what Neato has decided to do with the 2.1 version of their vacuuming software.

All you have to do is plug your robot into a computer (PC only, for now) with a regular old USB cable, download a little piece of software, and when the upgrade finishes, your vacuum will all of a sudden be intelligent enough to do the following:

  • Clean one specific 4' x 6' area with a new "spot cleaning" mode

  • Detect when it's tangled in carpet fringes, stop its brush, and back away

  • Clean faster and more reliably with many small navigation enhancements

  • Perform a "wiggle" while docking to ensure a good charging connection, even with dirty contacts

  • Understand English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Chinese, and Japanese

These improvements were designed and implemented through rigorous in-house testing as well as feedback from users. The changes to the docking procedure, for example, are a response to a problem that a few people encountered in some very specific situations that Neato nonetheless put some hard work into figuring out how to fix.

I'm a big fan of companies who stand behind their products to the extent that they're willing to continue to make them better even after you've already bought one. And this upgrade isn't just fixing a bug or patching a security hole, there are entirely new features that you get without having to buy anything. Neato says that this type of support for their robots is likely to continue, which is great news, since I'm still waiting for the upgrade that lets my XV-11 use its laser to keep my cat from clawing the drapes. ZAP.

[ Neato Software Update ]

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