iRobot’s single-pass floor-mopping robots vs O’Cedar’s cheap duster robot

iRobot recently announced their new Braava floor-mopping robot line of products. The $199 robots sweep and mop hard floors in a single pass while it navigates under and around furniture and other obstacles. The Braava is the rebranded Mint from Evolution, acquired last year by iRobot.

The new Braava comes in two models: dry mop – which sweeps in straight lines and uses cloths to pick up dust, dirt and hair; and damp mop – which uses damp cleaning cloths and a special back and forth mopping action to lift surface dirt.

Braava competes with O'Cedar's $39.99 O-Duster Robotic Floor Cleaner. The O-Duster uses disposable electrostatic cleaning cloths and an automatic navigation system that changes direction when it detects objects and walls, and is self-rotating for additional cleaning power — a lot like a spinning bumper car. It's less professional than the Braava but much cheaper.

iRobot has sold over 10 million home robots worldwide in just over 10 years.