robot vacuum cleaners glossary: all technical terms explained

Function

This filter helps you choose which cleaning tasks the robot can handle, so its capabilities match your household needs.

Mopping: A damp pad wipes hard floors to help remove light dirt and marks that vacuuming can leave behind.
Mop: A floor-wiping attachment uses a damp pad to collect fine dirt from hard floors and needs regular cleaning.

Use

This filter helps you find a robot suited to the cleaning conditions and tasks you expect it to handle.

Pets: Designed for homes with animals, these robots help collect shed fur and everyday debris, though brushes still need cleaning.
Dog hair: Designed to pick up shed dog fur, these robots help keep floors clean, though tangled hair may still need removing from brushes.
Pool: A robot designed to clean underwater collects debris from pool surfaces instead of cleaning household floors.
Above-ground pool: A pool-cleaning robot suited to pools built above ground removes underwater debris, with compatibility depending on the pool.

Features

This filter helps you compare capabilities that affect how you control the robot and how much routine upkeep it needs.

Auto-empty station: A dock transfers collected dirt from the robot into a larger container, reducing how often you empty the onboard dustbin.
LiDAR navigation: Laser distance measurements help the robot map rooms and plan orderly cleaning routes around furniture.
Alexa compatible: Support for a compatible voice assistant lets you request cleaning by voice once the robot and your account are connected.
App compatible: A compatible phone app lets you control cleaning and access supported settings without using the robot's onboard buttons.

Customer rating

This filter narrows the selection by buyer review scores, helping you assess reported satisfaction alongside written feedback.

4 stars and up: This filter shows robots with a higher minimum buyer review score, helping you focus on products with favorable feedback.
3 stars and up: This filter includes robots with a more moderate minimum buyer review score, giving you a broader selection to compare.

Promotion

This filter helps you find products with advertised offers, so you can check whether the purchase terms suit your budget.

Sale: An advertised discount lowers the listed purchase price for an offer period, so checking the final total helps you judge the deal.
On sale: The product has an advertised price reduction, so reviewing the offer conditions helps you understand the savings.

Station

This filter helps you compare the dock's maintenance role, which affects how much hands-on care the robot needs after cleaning.

No station: Without a maintenance station, you empty the robot's dustbin and clean its mop yourself, even if a charging dock is included.
Auto-empty station: A dock transfers collected dirt from the robot into a larger container, reducing how often you empty the onboard dustbin.
Emptying + washing station: A dock empties the robot's dustbin and washes its mop pads, reducing routine handling while still needing its own upkeep.
3-in-1 station (emptying + washing + drying): A dock that empties the robot's dustbin, washes its mop pads, and dries them to reduce the cleaning you do by hand.

Navigation

Determines how the robot finds its way around your home, affecting floor coverage and how reliably it reaches each area.

LiDAR: Uses laser distance measurements to map rooms and plan organized cleaning paths around furniture.
Camera: Uses images of the surroundings to help the robot locate itself and find its way through rooms.
Laser + camera: Combines laser distance measurements with visual information to help the robot navigate and interpret its surroundings.
Gyroscope: Tracks changes in direction to help the robot follow a more organized path, though its position can drift during cleaning.
Random: Changes direction when it meets an obstacle, so it may revisit some spots while missing others during a cleaning run.

Obstacle detection

Affects how well the robot notices objects in its path before contact, helping reduce collisions and interruptions.

None: Lacks dedicated obstacle detection, so the robot may rely on bumping into objects to change direction.
2D: Scans objects along a flat plane to help avoid obstacles, but may miss items above or below that plane.
3D: Senses the depth and shape of objects to help spot obstacles that a flat scan may miss.

Multi-floor mapping

Lets the robot save separate maps for different floors, so you can reuse room layouts when moving it between levels.

No-go zones

Lets you mark areas on a map that the robot should stay out of, helping protect delicate objects or avoid problem spots.

Mop lifting

Raises the mop away from the floor when needed, helping limit unwanted wet contact with surfaces.

Mopping type

Determines how the mop works against the floor, affecting its ability to loosen dirt and remove stuck-on marks.

Dragged mop: Pulls a damp pad across the floor to wipe up light dirt, with little scrubbing action for stubborn marks.
Vibration/sonic: Moves the mop pad rapidly back and forth to help loosen dried dirt instead of relying only on a wiping motion.
Rotating discs: Spins mop pads against the floor to scrub dirt and help remove marks that a dragged pad may leave behind.

Carpet handling

Affects how the robot cleans around rugs and carpet, including whether it can vacuum them while keeping them dry.

Carpet detection: Recognizes carpeted surfaces so the robot can adjust its cleaning behavior when moving off hard floors.
Avoids carpets: Keeps the robot off carpets during relevant cleaning modes, helping prevent a wet mop from reaching them.
Mop lifting on carpets: Raises the mop when carpet is detected so the robot can vacuum it, though thick carpet may still touch the pad.

Main brush

The main brush design affects how well the robot lifts dirt from floors and carpets and how easily trapped hair can be removed.

Rubber: Flexible rubber fins lift dirt and hair while making tangled strands easier to remove than from a brush with bristles.
Bristles + rubber: Bristles loosen dirt from carpets while rubber fins help move debris toward the suction inlet, though hair can catch in the bristles.
Anti-tangle: A brush designed to reduce hair wrapping can save time on cleaning the brush, but it may still need occasional untangling.
Designed for pet hair: A brush intended to collect shed fur can help with pet cleanup, though its performance still depends on the floor and hair type.

Side brushes

Side brushes sweep debris from edges and corners toward the suction inlet, affecting how thoroughly the robot cleans along walls.

Filtration

The filter affects how much fine dust the robot traps instead of releasing back into the room through its exhaust.

HEPA H13: A high-efficiency filter captures very fine airborne particles, helping reduce dust in the exhaust when properly fitted and maintained.
HEPA H11/H12: These fine-particle filter classes capture less fine dust than stricter HEPA grades, so the HEPA label alone can be misleading.
Non-HEPA: A filter without a HEPA rating can trap dust, but the label alone does not establish how well it captures very fine particles.

Recharge and resume

Automatic recharging followed by continued cleaning lets the robot finish an interrupted job without you restarting it.

Connectivity

Connection options determine how you control the robot, access remote features, and use it when internet access is unavailable.

Wi‑Fi 2,4 GHz: This wireless connection usually reaches farther through walls, but setup requires a router network using the matching frequency band.
Wi‑Fi 5 GHz: This wireless connection requires a matching router network and generally has a shorter reach through walls than lower-frequency Wi-Fi.
Bluetooth: A short-range wireless connection lets a nearby phone communicate with the robot, often for setup or local control.
Offline: Operation without an internet connection lets you use local controls, while remote features may be unavailable.

Voice assistants

Voice control compatibility determines whether you can give spoken cleaning commands through a supported assistant.

Google Assistant: Compatibility with this voice assistant lets you request supported cleaning actions aloud after linking the robot to your account.
Siri/Shortcuts: Compatible phone shortcuts let you trigger supported cleaning actions through spoken commands or automated routines.

Pet-friendly

Features intended for homes with pets affect fur pickup, brush maintenance, and how the robot handles obstacles left by animals.

Battery type

Battery chemistry affects charging behavior, battery weight, and how well the battery retains capacity with repeated use.

Li-ion: A rechargeable lithium-based battery stores energy with relatively little weight and does not need full discharge before recharging.
LiFePO4: A rechargeable lithium battery chemistry that offers good heat stability and tolerates repeated charging well.
NiMH: A rechargeable nickel-based battery that powers cordless cleaning but is generally heavier than a lithium battery of similar capacity.

Pool type

Helps you choose a cleaner suited to your pool's construction, access conditions, and layout.

Above-ground: For pools built above ground, where the cleaner needs to suit the pool's structure and access arrangements.
In-ground: For pools built into the ground, where the cleaner needs to handle the pool's shape, depth changes, and access arrangements.

Pool surface

Helps you check whether the cleaner's brushes and traction suit the pool's finish without damaging it.

Liner: A flexible waterproof pool covering that needs compatible brushes to clean it without damaging the material.
Tiles: A pool finish made of individual tiles, where suitable brushes help remove dirt from the surface and grout joints.
Concrete/painted: A concrete or painted pool finish that needs compatible brushes to remove dirt without wearing away any coating.
Polyester shell: A molded polyester pool shell with a smooth finish that needs suitable brushes and traction for effective cleaning.

Power source (pool)

Determines how the cleaner receives electricity, affecting setup, cable handling, and whether charging is needed.

Mains: Uses electricity from a household outlet through a power supply and cable, allowing cleaning without battery charging.
Battery: Uses a rechargeable battery to clean without a power cable in the pool, but needs charging between sessions.

Areas cleaned (pool)

Shows which parts of the pool the cleaner can reach and scrub, helping you judge how much manual cleaning may remain.

Floor: Cleans debris from the bottom of the pool, helping remove settled dirt and leaves.
Walls: Climbs and scrubs the sides of the pool, helping remove dirt that floor cleaning leaves behind.
Waterline: Cleans the band where the water meets the pool walls, helping remove grime and greasy buildup.