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Mint Cleaning Robot Is Filled with Sensors, All Square

As expected, in the aftermath of the gadget bonanza that was this year’s International CES, we’re starting to come across numerous interesting products, which, unfortunately, received less attention from the media than they would have deserved. And, to some extent, that’s also the case with the Mint cleaning robot developed by Evolution Robotics, a device that brings an interesting new square design to this particular segment, dominated by the circular Roomba and its many lookalikes.

Besides the fact that the circular shape has the purpose of differentiating this thing from its competitors, it’s also got a far more practical application, namely the possibility of cleaning tighter spaces, something that circular robots can’t always achieve. Plus, the Mint features a front-mounted cleaning pad, allowing the cloth to clean along edges of walls and all the way into corners. Sitting at under 10 inches wide, Mint also has a very small footprint, letting it clean tight spaces, between chair legs and around obstacles.

The Mint robot also delivers quite a good level of versatility, being able to carry out both dry and wet cleaning operations. With dry cloths, Mint systematically picks up the dust, dirt and hair that constantly accumulate on the floor. With wet cloths, Mint uses a special mopping motion to methodically clean each area of the floor, dissolving and wiping up the deeper dirt and grime, leaving floors shiny, fresh and clean.

Featuring Evolution’s own NorthStar technology, Mint integrates information from three different on-board positioning systems to carefully map the room, plan areas for cleaning, and pick up spots not covered on the first pass. This way, the device caries out a complete and comprehensive sweep of the room, while its numerous sensors (such as floor sensors to detect floor transitions) help it carry out a more precise cleaning action.

“Similar to how the once manual chores of washing dishes or doing laundry evolved with the invention of the dishwasher and washing machine, floor cleaning has officially been replaced by an automated appliance that achieves the same result, if not better, than previous manual methods,” said Dr. Paolo Pirjanian, CEO of Evolution Robotics. “To do the job well, Evolution had to rewrite the book on how floor cleaning is done. Mint packs aerospace-grade technologies  that were specifically tailored to deliver consumers with an appliance that cleans like they do, while still providing a hassle-free experience.”

Mint is scheduled to be available via major retail outlets in Q4 2010 at a price of under $250, which will surely make it an interesting choice for those people who are sick and tired of doing chores around the house.