Ecovacs announces autonomous AI robot with voice assistant
Ecovacs introduces an all-in-one household robot that works autonomously and cleans itself. How much AI is in the new DEEBOT X1?
Robot manufacturer Ecovacs is announcing a fully automated vacuuming and mopping robot lineup at the CES 2022 electronics trade show. The DEEBOT X1 models come with a new design, an extensive feature list and has been awarded the 2022 CES Innovation Award.
DEEBOT X1 OMNI: All-in-one household robot in designer dress
The DEEBOT X1 robots were designed in collaboration with Studio Jacob Jensen. The Danish design company has so far specialized mainly in wristwatches, wall clocks, and various small household appliances.
Ecovacs calls the new DEEBOT X1 OMNI an "all-in-one model." The robot vacuums, mops, disposes of dust and dirt, cleans and dries the integrated mops, and even refills clean mop water. All operations are said to be automatic and require no human intervention. For independent maintenance, the robot moves to the associated station.
This would bring DEEBOT X1 OMNI very close to an autonomous household robot. The shift of human work from cleaning the floors by hand to maintaining and cleaning the robot would finally be eliminated. The result would be greater time and labor savings.
Vacuuming and mopping powered by AI
As in its predecessor, Ecovac's Deebot T9 AIVI, the X1 OMNI again features an AI system, namely the "Artificial Intelligence and Visual Interpretation" technology, or AIVI for short. The new model uses the revised version AIVI 3.0 in combination with TrueDetect 2.0.
For the first time, there are two mops on the underside of the Deebot X1 OMNI. | Image: Ecovacs
The resulting "AIVI 3D" system is said to be able to identify a wide range of objects and determine their size down to the millimeter. The built-in AI processor is said to be 16 times more powerful than its predecessor and to recognize objects twenty times faster. In addition to the camera and AI, laser detection is also on board for mapping living spaces.
The swipe technology has also been revised. For the first time, OZMO Turbo 2.0 consists of two rotating mops that are supposed to remove stains even on textured and uneven surfaces. The X1 can achieve up to 180 rotations per minute.
Integrated voice AI steals Alexa's job
"YIKO" marks the first time Ecovacs has introduced its own voice assistant. The X1 OMNI accepts voice commands via the built-in microphones, enabling direct voice control. Smart devices like Echo 4 or Google Nest Hub 2 with Alexa or Google Assistant are therefore no longer needed. However, integration into existing smart home systems should still be possible, even if Ecovacs does not provide any information for the time being.
The DEEBOT X1 OMNI is expected to be released in April and will cost 1,549 US-Dollar euros including the cleaning station. Another model called DEEBOT X1 PLUS should be available for 1,150 US-Dollar. Details on this are not yet known.
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