Upgrading the Neato XV-11

The idea of the Neato XV-11 employing a laser distance scanner (LDS) for mapping the room was one of the reasons I decided to get it.  What really sealed the deal was that it included a USB port.  The USB port implies that software upgrades to the XV-11 is possible.

So, a year after the XV-11 is launched (and 4 months after mine started working for me), Neato finally released a new firmware.  The only problem is the Windows needed for the upgrade.

Parallels seems to be the only virtualisation software that works.  Coming from VMware Fusion, Parallels is a little more troublesome due to the different file format.  Converting the Windows XP vmdk file to pvm is automatic but still a hassle nonetheless if you have a sizeable vmdk.  Fortunately, mine is still a smallish 8GB.

Upgrading the XV-11 from a Windows XP virtual machine running in Parallels should be little different from Windows on raw iron.  A window asking if the XV-11 should be connected to the windows instance or the mac pops up when the USB cable is plugged in.  No guesses where it should connect but its all a couple of clicks on the web browser and the XV-11 is up and running with the latest firmware.

There are several obvious changes up from the menu.

There are now a whole slew of new languages including both Simplified and Traditional Chinese, and Japanese.  There is also French, Italian, Spanish, and German on top of the default English.  There is a new option for "Spot Cleaning" to vacuum a smallish area.

The option to "return to base" has disappeared.  Just as well since it's a fairly useless option anyway.  My XV-11 has little problem locating its base and on the rare occasions it has to start off its charging station, "returning to base" serves little purpose anyway.

What's more important is the robot's effectiveness after the firmware upgrade.  

Lets attack docking first.  Due to the design of the charging station and the under-designed contacts on the XV-11, there are quite a few instances that we found the robot dead even though its at the charging station.  The problem could be that the XV-11 stopped just short of contacting the station, or it came in at an odd angle that prevented charging.  We had better success after cleaning the contacts at the rear of the XV-11.

With the new firmware, the XV-11 approaches the charging station very cautiously.  When it used to position itself then reverse nonchalantly into the charging station, and at times failing to make contact, it now takes baby steps towards the base, swinging a few degrees to either side.  This should increase the success rate of charging for the XV-11.  We will have to see after another week.

Neato also claimed that the new firmware improved the XV-11's navigation.  It is not clear what exactly this means but there are some changes in the way the robot navigates around the house.

The XV-11 used to prefer to hug the wall around the hall before moving to the more open parts of the house.  With the update, it seems comfortable to attack the open area first.  Further, for the first time, I caught the XV-11 traverse across the hall diagonally cutting it into triangular areas instead of the previous rectangular.  The cleaning within that triangular area is still done systematically in directions parallel to the hall.

Overall, I did not think there is any difference in the overall area covered.  Annetta thought otherwise that the edges are not as clean.  After the cleaning session, the XV-11 was able to locate its charging station without excessive hunting despite some minor adjustments to furniture configuration.

What will be really nice is if Neato can allow the end-user to play around with different cleaning strategies and make micro behavioural changes.  E.g. I may want my XV-11 to move closer to the walls and the expense of speed, or the shapes and area that the XV-11 should use to map the room when cleaning.

It is great is to see Neato standing behind their product (their only product really since the XV-15 is practically the same as the XV-11).  They have built the flexibility of end-user upgrade right from the start.  In this era where end-users are getting more accustomed to technologies and software controls so much of hardware, it is unthinkable for any manufacturer to create a product that is completed.  This flexibility allows Neato to deliver improvements to products that are already out in the field.  Afterall, the robot is expected to be a fairly complex piece of equipment.