iRobot’s Genius 4.0 Home Intelligence software update bring more features to Roomba robot vacuums

Image: iRobot

Apple's Siri is getting in on the act with the Roomba robot vacuums, which have worked with both Amazon and the Google Assistant for a while. iRobot and Roborock are the only smart vacuum manufacturers to work with Apple's voice assistant.

Colin Angle, the CEO of iRobot, described the iRobot Genius Home Intelligence software as a "lobotomy and replacement of the intelligence systems in all of our robots" at its launch in 2020.

The company's connected Roomba robot vacuums and Braava Jet robot mops are some of the new features in Genius 4.0. The software update will bring room-specific cleaning preferences, a Do Not Disturb feature, and a Child and Pet Lock option, as well as adding smart mapping to its lower-priced self-emptying vacuum the i3.

The i3 and i3 Plus get a $50 price cut, dropping to $349 and $549 for the i3 and i3 Plus, respectively, and the Plus model comes with an auto-empty charging base that sucks the dirt out of you.

Image: iRobot

Initially, voice commands will be limited to start, stop, pause, resume, and send home. No room specific cleaning commands are available with the other voice assistants. Ryan Schneider tells The Verge that more commands are coming. You can set up voice commands in the iRobot app without using Apple's Shortcuts app.

The room-specific cleaning preferences feature will bring the software up to speed with competitors. With any smart mapping robot, users can determine how it will clean each room or zone.

You can set the vacuum to take two passes in the hallway, but only one in the guest bedroom. You can choose the intensity it uses on a room-by-room basis for models with different suction levels.

The Braava Jet m6 mopping robot will have three levels of liquid and three levels of overlap. The closer the mopping bot is to where it was previously cleaned, the quicker it will clean and the longer it will take.

The room-specific cleaning preferences can be saved for the next job. Users will be able to modify their preferences for scheduled jobs and favorite routines.

Image: iRobot

iRobot's first robot vacuum that can identify and avoid certain objects can now identify more things. Genius 4.0 adds clothing and towels to the list of machine learning capabilities.

Some dogs have figured out how to turn robot vacuums on and off, so you or sleeping members of your family won't be woken up by a bot that has a Do Not Disturb feature.

The software updates will be staggered over the next few months, with the smart mapping feature rolling out now in the USA and arriving globally by the end of Q3. The other updates will be released globally by the end of June 2022.