Samsung NaviBot Silencio promises quieter robotic hoovering

Like a beetle, the Samsung NaviBot Silencio will scurry around your home. Unlike a beetle, it will clean as it goes.
Like a beetle, the Samsung NaviBot Silencio will scurry around your home. Unlike a beetle, it will clean as it goes.

Samsung has announced the NaviBot Silencio robotic cleaner, a faster, quieter iteration of the original Roomba-alike NaviBot.

The little alien-like device can be programmed to simply putter around your home, sucking up dust and dirt while you put your feet up or go out to aerobics or whatever it is you do when you're not hoovering.

The robot also has cognitive mapping technology which uses two CPU control chips and a navigation program that allow it to remember where it has already cleaned.

Robotic servant

It also has a little camera which takes 30 photos of a room per second to create a virtual map which the NaviBot uses to decide the quickest and safest route around the room.

We've always said that robot vacuums should be seen but not heard, and the NaviBot Silencio is on its way to a quiet life with its running volume of 62dB, about the same as a normal conversation.

Don't be fooled by the name of the pet haircare system; it is not a handy dog-grooming attachment, but a special comb for picking up pet hair.

The NaviBot Silencio UK release date is set for April 2011, while UK pricing will be around £500.

But the real question on everyone's lips is: will the NaviBot Silencio prove as popular with our feline friends as the Roomba?

News Editor (UK)

Former UK News Editor for TechRadar, it was a perpetual challenge among the TechRadar staff to send Kate (Twitter, Google+) a link to something interesting on the internet that she hasn't already seen. As TechRadar's News Editor (UK), she was constantly on the hunt for top news and intriguing stories to feed your gadget lust. Kate now enjoys life as a renowned music critic – her words can be found in the i Paper, Guardian, GQ, Metro, Evening Standard and Time Out, and she's also the author of 'Amy Winehouse', a biography of the soul star.