ROCKUBOT UV Robots: Mite Killer, BT Speaker and Powerbank in One

As an allergy sufferer, you can’t do much with house dust mites. Especially in textiles the small beasts get stuck and are difficult to control. Kickstarter now offers a simple solution with an autonomously working robot. But the robot also seems to be interesting for non-allergic persons, as it combines four devices in one.

• Rockubot mite robot
  • • at Kickstarter from $119 (VIP – Super Early Bird)

Technical data of the ROCKUBOT

ROCKUBOT: With UV-C light against allergy

It’s not without reason that every battery-powered vacuum cleaner with a mite attachment comes onto the market at the moment: Anyone who wakes up once at night because he can’t breathe, will quickly see a little dust differently. With the help of four UV-C lights installed on the underside, the robot should be able to remove 99.9 % of all bacteria, viruses and mites contained in a textile. Of course, this is a value that one can take a critical look at with a clear conscience. Regular ventilation and a lot of sunlight also helps, but direct control is more sensible because house dust mites multiply in a very short time.

Short explanation: UV light is an electromagnetic radiation that is invisible to the human eye – known, for example, from sun rays. This light has a germicidal effect and liquidates house dust mites accordingly. UV-C is “the most short-lived radiant” of three types of UV radiation and here applies (as also for sun rays): One should not expose oneself to the radiation too long, because otherwise this is harmful. However, compared to UV-A and UV-B, UV-C is only harmful for the eyes, less so for the body.

But the producer of the ROCKUBOT has reacted to this: The 15.0 x 6.3 cm small robot only switches on its UV light when it detects a substrate beneath it. If you lift it with your hand, for example, you avoid contact with the light. A total of 24 sensors are installed in the ROCKUBOT, so that it can also detect abysses and obstacles and does not fall off the bed or sofa. We already know this from vacuum robots.

The robot navigates according to the Z-Shaped principle, which is also familiar from vacuum robots. Here, the robot travels a straight path until it meets an obstacle or an abyss, turns 180° and travels a straight path again. No area is left out. The low operating volume of 40 dB should be emphasized, which is hardly noticeable. But of course, compared to vacuum robots (65 dB average), there is no vacuuming here either.

Five different modes

But that’s not it yet. The ROCKUBOT has five different modes: bed mode, manual handheld mode (you can slide it over textiles), Bluetooth speaker mode, power bank mode and wireless charging mode. With the latter you put a Qi capable smartphone like the Mi 9 on the robot and the charging process starts.

If you treat yourself to two of the robots, you can pair them via TWS and get stereo sound. Since otherwise, however, no precise information on the technical data of the music playback can be found, one should probably not expect too much sound here. Nice accessory perhaps, but will probably not be able to replace a good speaker.

The operation as a handheld device is much more interesting, whereby the robot can be easily picked up and used in the corresponding mode in many areas to kill bacteria.

Outlook and assessment

Delivery is scheduled for November this year, but the FAQ also mentions “before Christmas”. Fact is: The small robot has already reached its financing target for Kickstarter, and will go into mass production in October. If you secure the robot before the official release, you could save a few dollars. The price in the shops will certainly be higher later.

Personally, I understand very well that such products don’t trigger a great hype, after all, the mite issue is very specific and largely uninteresting for non-allergy sufferers. For me as an allergy sufferer, the robot is definitely interesting – provided it works as well as I had hoped. Almost $120 is quite a price, but a mite-free bed with a sofa would be worth it. Due to the portable size of the robot I also see it on trips, especially hotel beds are often not cleaned under such aspects. Moreover, an emergency power bench on tour is not impractical in case of doubt.

There is also a small dispute between the manufacturers of the ROCKUBOT and the CleanSeBot. CleanSeBot is of the opinion that ROCKUBOT has copied some ideas and technology from its own model. CleanSeBot, however, does not have the other functions outside the UV light. We have an eye on it and will keep you up to date.

What about you? Allergy sufferers among you who find the topic as interesting as I do?