Matic - Matic

I'm no expert, but I'm quite happy with my Matic and it's been well reviewed everywhere. No API yet though, so no home assistant integration. https://maticrobots.com

Yes, agreed that auto-empty docks would be great… but we decided against them in the first version as we really disliked the idea of building a vacuum that cleans the vacuum — it just feels like a really inelegant solution. We did lots of research, and a few things that were against those are: 1. NOISE — We felt that a cleaning device shouldn’t pollute our homes with noise. In my home, every time it went off, it felt like a rocket launcher and then made my then-3-year-old cry. My dog also went nuts and started barking every time. 2. My wife hated how big it was - she called it a rocket ship. She just disliked having it in a visible family/living room area. Turns out space is premium in smaller homes, and they don’t want giant docks and many people go out of their way to hide appliances behind closet veneer so the current style felt really bad. 3. The dirty water tank smelled very bad and had mold inside it when we came back after a vacation. Cleaning was a nightmare, and not to mention a nasty smell.

Yep. All the processing happens on the device. Even to robot connection happens locally, so no cloud processing at all. If you connect remotely (which you can turn off), it uses an end-to-end encrypted tunnel for the data round-trip. Nothing stays in the cloud. 🙏🏽🙏🏽

Hi OP, please let me know if I can answer any questions. Please check out recent wired review. ZDNet just gave us editors choice award - it came out yesterday. We reimagined Matic from ground up to fit the needs of families. Matic is Robotics 2.0. A completely redesigned, reengineered, and reimagined Vision-Only AI robot that sees like human, so it can clean like us. It... - deftly navigates around any surface/obstacles using visual intelligence - quieter than dishwashers at 55dBA  - auto-toggles between vacuuming and mopping by recognizing floor types - outperforms any vacuuming and mopping robot (in our own homes and tests -- I have 3 kids and a golden retriever)   - Convenience of HEPA bags that keep the air clean and eliminate the hassle of changing filters  - private — keeps your data within 4 walls of your home with all edge device processing (no cloud at all).Matic's the first vision-only AI where robots literally the home the way we do in full 3D, photorealistic manner. It explores, maps, and localize in your home exactly the way you do and maps are dynamic so it constanly sees what's changed and updates the maps. In addition, We wanted to solve problems that disc robots struggle with: ***Disc robots struggle with threadsholds or shag rugs or thick pile rugs -- for that big wheels of matic help. ***Actuated cleaning head adjusts to different thickness of the rugs and dynamically changes suction/brush roll speed to clean rugs that even manual vacuums cannot clean. ***Designed to deal with pet hair in a way tha it doesn't get clogged and don't have to flip the robot and cut hair - so easily acceessible brush roll. ***Cleaning head is littler over 2" tall so it can easily fit under space below kitchen cabines and visible dirt under the couches and furniture. Those don't get dirty as frequently as visible area. ***And one the things we cared about and have heard from any customers is that it doesn't scare pets and kids. ***as mentioned above, higher vantage point of cameras (instead ant-like vantage point of disc robots) allows us to see floors the same way we do at 45 degree angle -- this means it can truly see what obstacles are and abvoid it. No more wire chewing.***In addition, just like the bottom of the cars get dirtier faster, flat robot sensors get dirtier much faster too, and then they make all kinds of mistakes. Higher camera position allows robot to see like humans at 45 degree angle to the floor and doesn’t get dirty. So, the trade-off is also intelligence. As a pet owner and father of 3 kids, our primary need wasn't under the furniture. That can be cleaned once a month as a deep clean. We wanted something that would clean day to day messes, hair of my golden retriever, cookie crumbs, kitchen, etc., constantly w/o needing supervision. We wanted something that would clean our thick shag rugs and go over them (which disc robots cannot). So we prioritized the needed for families like us. And when we talked to customers, we found that many felt the same way. We talked to many users and felt that cleaning obviously accessible area thoroughly, effectively, w/o needing to babysit around obstacles was a far bigger use case for families with kids and pets than cleaning underneath the furniture.

Please note that it doesn’t see or avoid small legos or anything shorter than 1” or narrower than 1” yet. We are working on that and will update all robots through software updates. But we have heard from many customers that our robot doesn’t scare pets or kids. Which was a huge value proposition for me. 😊🙏🏽

**1/3:** Hello, if you're in the USA, please check out Matic @ Matic Robot dot com. We're based in California... I am one fo the co-founders. Send me DM if you have any questions but here are the reason why we build Matic and took completely different approach. This is my biased opinion FWIW, but Matic is the start of Robotics 2.0 vs. disc robots of Robotics 1.0. First roombas (w/o camera) were like wearing a blind fold around your eyes and then bouncing from wall to wall to cover the room. The robots with LIDAR (just a single pixel ones - so one laster) is like still having a blindfold on but now you have your hand stretched out in front of you to catch the wall. With new obstacle sensors they are getting much better. However, if anything is above or below its lasers it doesn't see. This is because they have a flat ant-like vantage point that prevents any sort of understanding. That's why they can't see wires or dog poop and get stuck or lost after 23 years of improvements (first roomba launched in 2002).  **Visually Intelligent (with human-like top-down vantage point) -**Matic's the first vision-only AI where robots literally the home the way we do in full 3D, photorealistic manner. It explores, maps, and localizes in your home exactly the way you do and maps are dynamic so it constantly sees what's changed and updates the maps.  Matic sees like a human, so it can clean like a human. This means:  * It deftly navigates around any surface/obstacles using visual intelligence, and almost never gets stuck or chews wires * It’s quieter than dishwashers at 55dBA  * It auto-toggles between vacuuming and mopping by recognizing floor types - outperforms any vacuuming and mopping robot (in our own homes and tests -- I have 3 kids and a golden retriever)   * It keeps the air clean and eliminates the hassle of changing filters (which most families forget to do or even wash) with the convenience of HEPA bags. With each bag, customer get a fresh new HEPA filter. * It’s private by design — keeps your data within 4 walls of your home with all edge device processing (no cloud at all). In addition, we wanted to solve problems that disc robots usually struggle with: * Disc robots struggle with thresholds or shag rugs or thick pile rugs -- for those big wheels of matic help. * Actuated cleaning head adjusts to different thickness of the rugs and dynamically changes suction/brush roll speed to clean rugs that even manual vacuums cannot clean. * Designed to deal with pet hair in a way that it doesn't get clogged and doesn't have to flip the robot and cut hair with it’s hair tangle-free brush roll and easy access to it. * The cleaning head is little over 2" tall so it can easily fit under space below kitchen cabinets and visible dirt under the couches and furniture. Those don't get dirty as frequently as visible areas. * And one of the things we cared about and have heard from any customers is that it doesn't scare pets and kids. 

**2/3:** * Families go out of their way to hide appliances behind closet veneer, so we wanted a robot that would look elegant inside home and belong in it, maybe even enhance the decor of it vs. look like something straight out of sci-fi movies.  * My wife would always yell at me to get the space ship (giant dock) out of her home or hide it inside close.  * The higher vantage point of cameras (instead of the ant-like vantage point of disc robots) allows us to see floors the same way we do at 45 degree angle -- this means it can truly see what obstacles are and avoid it. No more wire chewing. * We have limitation where it doesn’t see obstacles shorter than 1” or narrower than 1” but that will be resolved very soon via software update * Lastly, just like the bottom of the cars get dirtier faster, flat robot sensors get dirtier much faster too, and then they make all kinds of mistakes. The higher camera position allows the robot to see like humans at a 45 degree angle to the floor and doesn’t get dirty. So, the trade-off is also intelligence. We talked to many users and felt that cleaning obviously accessible areas thoroughly, effectively, w/o needing to babysit around obstacles was a far bigger use case for families with kids and pets than cleaning underneath the furniture. Most users were fed-up of robots getting stuck a lot more than it’s suction power. Most of the reviews are about suction power or mop type, but something that would just work, not get stuck all the time, chew wires, and dodge around obstacles is a far more critical use case for families as kids/pets put all kinds of things on the floor. Homes are the most cluttered, dynamic, and chaotic spaces. It required a different intelligence approach. Just like we have sedans, SUVs, and vans for different use cases of driving. We believe that all of us have our own pet peeves and our use cases. Our solution will not fit everyone's needs and preferences, and that's okay. We are just providing another option (a completely reimagined one) built from the vantage point of families with young kids & pets.

3/3: **Why HEPA bags (and no base station) instead of bins:** 1. Noise - when the base station vacuums the vacuum, it usually sounds like a rocket launcher because it has to suck up dirt from a disc vacuum against gravity so needs a really HIGH suction. That noise would always make my daughter cry and my dog would startle, bark, and freak out.  1. Noise is also pollution/dirty -- it didn't make sense to add noise pollution to keep floors clean. 2. A vacuum that cleans a vacuum just feels like an extremely inelegant solution. Instead of fixing the small bin by thinking of diff design, it just fixes a symptom while adding more problems.  3. Base stations are big. Homeowners put a lot of care and curation in picking furniture to decorate their homes. These giant docking stations stick out like a sore thumb. It just didn't make sense to have a giant base station in the living room or family room for guests to see. And, many homes don't even have a space for it... 4. Dirty water bins are another nightmare. We left for a vacation and came back to a really foul smell and nasty, moldy dirty water tank. My wife wouldn't let me throw it in the sink or toilet -- so had to dig a hole in the backyard to dump it. 5. Base stations themselves add so much maintenance – just setting them up is a chore that many dislike.  6. No one remembers to change filters: familes are busy, they don't have time to change filter or wash them constantly. As the filters get clogged efficacy goes further down. Instead, we build HEPA filter right into the bag so that with each bag you have a fresh new filter to capture allergens, pet hair, smelly particles, and many microbes. A vacuum can and should also keep our home air clean and allow us to breath healthier air. It’s much easier and convenient to throw a HEPA bag away vs. having to replace the vacuum filter and have dirt from that bin spill all over the floor. Much easier to throw HEPA bags away than empty dirty water tanks that would smell and get moldy super fast.  Our onboard bag is 1L compared to \~2.7L that dock tower has, so we have significantly larger onboard capacity.

Trying to change it at Matic Robots. We ain’t perfect but our small team is working hard.

🙏🏽 If under the furniture is primary use case, the disc robots are great...they are just automation without intelligence so limited. We instead took the route of designing robot for families who wanted intelligent day to day cleaning w/o needing to babysit the robot. It's a bit like SUV and Vans, but really it’s completely reimagined to be “actually” intelligent. Matic's the first vision-only AI where robots literally the home the way we do in full 3D, photorealistic manner. It explores, maps, and localize in your home exactly the way you do and maps are dynamic so it constanly sees what's changed and updates the maps. In addition, We wanted to solve problems that disc robots struggle with: ***Disc robots struggle with thresholds or shag rugs or thick pile rugs -- for that big wheels of matic help. ***Actuated cleaning head adjusts to different thickness of the rugs and dynamically changes suction/brush roll speed to clean rugs that even manual vacuums cannot clean. ***Designed to deal with pet hair in a way that it doesn't get clogged and don't have to flip the robot and cut hair - so easily accessible brush roll. ***Cleaning head is littler over 2" tall so it can easily fit under space below kitchen cabines and visible dirt under the couches and furniture. Those don't get dirty as frequently as visible area. ***And one the things we cared about and have heard from any customers is that it doesn't scare pets and kids. ***the higher vantage point of cameras (instead ant-like vantage point of disc robots) allows us to see floors the same way we do at 45 degree angle -- this means it can truly see what obstacles are and avoid it. No more wire chewing. We talked to many users and felt that cleaning obviously accessible area thoroughly, effectively, w/o needing to babysit around obstacles was a far bigger use case for families with kids and pets than cleaning underneath the furniture. As a pet owner and father of 3 kids, our primary need wasn't under the furniture. That can be cleaned once a month as a deep clean. We wanted something that would clean day to day messes, hair of my golden retriever, cookie crumbs, kitchen, etc., constantly w/o needing supervision. We wanted something that would clean our thick shag rugs and go over them (which disc robots cannot). So we prioritized the needed for families like us. And when we talked to customers, we found that many felt the same way. ***In addition, just like the bottom of the cars get dirtier faster, flat robot sensors get dirtier much faster too, and then they make all kinds of mistakes. Higher camera position allows robot to see like humans at 45 degree angle to the floor and doesn’t get dirty. So, the trade-off is intelligence.