We test all vacuums on both hardwood floors and carpet.
How we test robot vacuums
Our method for evaluating robot vacuums is straightforward, yet exhaustive. There are two types of tests we run. The first trial is to find out How well the robot covers the floor while cleaning. We have built an industry test room as specified by International Electrotechnical Commission For this purpose only. The IEC is an international standards body responsible for governing robot vacuum test procedures for, among others, vacuum manufacturers.
Hello to our robot vacuum test room. Inside it are items that may look a little strange. They are designed to simulate furniture and obstacles that the robot will encounter in the real world.
Inside this room are objects designed to simulate typical obstacles that navigation robots encounter while cleaning. These obstacles include wall edges, table and chair legs, couches and other furniture, and so on, plus bare tiles and hardwoods as well as carpet. We mount LED lights to the top of each vacuum cleaner. The dimensions of the lights correspond to the measured nozzle width of each specific robot vacuum we test.
As the robots move around the room cleaning, an overhead camera captures a long exposure image of the entire room in low light. That photo will then have a light path, created by LEDs, showing the exact areas the robot traveled (and its position on the nozzle) during its run. We can also see areas on the floor where the vacuum can miss or get stuck. You can see the navigation results of all the robot vacuums in our test group in the gallery below.
The second type of test reveals exactly how much physical vacuum debris the floor is able to pick up. To mimic dirt with a small particle size, we use a mix of play sand and landscaping sand. For larger particle soil, we use grains of uncooked black rice. The robots then run in straight-line mode across three pavement types (low-pile carpet, medium-pile carpet, and bare hardwood floors).
More of our robot vacuum test setup.
We also control for the specific nozzle width of each vacuum. We've built a customizable tool to start our test floors. It allows us to set a strip of precise soil area to match the nozzle dimensions for each robot. The soil mass is not chosen randomly either. We measure a proportional amount related to pavement material, debris type, plus nozzle width on each vacuum.
We conduct three cleaning runs (minimum) on each floor type. We also perform cleaning tests with sand and rice separately. That comes to at least 18 tests per robot. We weigh the dust bin on the robot both before and after each run. From there we can calculate the percentage of debris pickup for each cleaning operation and the average amount of soil the machine manages to remove. In addition, we work anecdotally (visually) pet hair Tests for each robot, on all three floor types.
Our rice-based, medium-sized particle test didn't show enough differentiation between each cleaner, saying they could all handle larger particles without issue. For the removal of fur for pet owners, we condemned anecdotally.
How we test cordless vacuums
We run tests in a straight line across all three floor types.
Putting cordless vacuums through their paces isn't as complicated as Vacuum testing of robots Cleaner, but it still takes a lot of time and careful effort to find the best cordless vacuum. We perform every vacuum in A. a straight line On three different surfaces (hardwood, low-pile carpet, mid-row carpet). On all three test beds, the test area is the same length (30.25 inches).
We tested the vacuum's ability to clean sand and rice.
Just as in robot tests, the width of the test bed is proportional to the width of the vacuum nozzle. We measure this width ourselves. We also use nozzle width, plus pavement type, to calculate soil density for each test, according to IEC guidelines. We use the same soil types here; Sand, rice and pet hair. We run three runs (minimum) on each floor type. We also test the suction power with sand and rice separately. That comes to at least 18 tests per vacuum. We weigh the dust bin on the vacuum both before and after each run.
From there we can calculate the percentage of dirt and debris pickup for each run and the average amount of soil that the vacuum manages to remove. In addition, we run anecdotal (visual) pet hair tests on each vacuum on all three floor types to help us choose the best cordless vacuum.