Glossary
Robot terms, explained
The jargon you'll meet on spec sheets — in plain English.
- LiDAR
- Laser-based mapping that lets a robot build a precise floor plan and navigate in the dark.
- vSLAM
- Visual Simultaneous Localization and Mapping — camera-based navigation that maps a room while tracking the robot's position.
- Suction (Pa)
- Pascals of vacuum pressure. Higher Pa generally means better pickup on carpet and debris.
- Self-emptying dock
- A base station that vacuums the robot's bin into a larger bag, so you empty it every few weeks instead of daily.
- Mopping pad
- A cloth (flat or vibrating/rotating) the robot drags or spins to wet-clean hard floors.
- Auto-wash dock
- A dock that rinses and sometimes dries the mop pads automatically between runs.
- No-go zone
- A virtual boundary you draw in the app to keep the robot out of an area without physical barriers.
- Boundary wire
- A perimeter wire (common on older robot mowers) that defines where the robot can cut.
- Obstacle avoidance
- Sensors (often AI cameras) that detect and steer around objects, cables and pet messes.
- Climbing height
- The maximum threshold or rug edge a robot can drive over, in millimetres.
- Runtime
- How long a robot operates on one charge before returning to dock — key for large homes or lawns.
- Recharge & resume
- The robot returns to charge, then continues cleaning from where it stopped.
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