The key facts

  • The expert advises removing cables, shoes, and small objects: the robot's sensors do not always detect thin cables and fabric.
  • Carpet fringe should be tucked under, while curtains and bedspreads should be raised or secured.
  • The charging station should be placed against a wall on a flat surface, leaving about 1.5 m of free space in front of it.

Preparing your apartment before launching the robot

Automatic navigation of a robot vacuum does not eliminate the need to prepare the apartment for cleaning. This was stated by Evgeny Mosunov, a marketing specialist for the robot vacuum category at Anker, in an interview with Gazeta.Ru. According to him, the robot can build a map of the room and go around obstacles, but thin cables, soft fabric, and small objects sometimes remain invisible to its sensors.

Cables, carpets, and the charging station

The main risk, according to the expert, is loops of cables near the desk, bed, and TV: they easily get caught under the brush or wheel, which can cause the robot to get stuck, damage the cable, or pull over a connected device. Cables and charging cords should be gathered and secured, and shoes, toys, bags, and packages should be removed from the floor.

Carpets and textiles

Before starting, Mosunov advises checking the carpets: long fringe can wrap around the brush, and fabric hanging down to the floor can get caught under the body. It is better to tuck the fringe under the carpet, and to raise or secure curtains, bedspreads, and blankets. High-pile carpets can be temporarily removed or marked as a no-go zone in the app.

Schedule and base placement

The expert recommends creating a zone-based cleaning schedule: clean the kitchen and hallway daily, the children's room after naps or walks, and run an intensive mode in the living room several times a week. According to him, sand and street dirt accumulate faster in the hallway, and pet hair appears more often in rooms with pets; dividing the apartment into zones helps use the battery charge more efficiently.

Charging station and large apartments

The charging station should be placed against a wall on a flat, hard surface, leaving about 1.5 m of free space in front of it and roughly 0.5 m on each side. The dock should be located in a dry, uncluttered spot: it should not be placed on thick carpet pile, in a cramped corner, or next to objects that prevent the robot from turning around, otherwise the device will make more mistakes when returning to charge. Owners of large apartments are advised by Mosunov to enable the resume cleaning function: when the battery is low, the robot will return to the base and, after recharging, continue working from where it stopped.