Panasonic has announced it will launch a triangular robot vacuum cleaner in Japan on 20 March 2015. Currently there are no plans to release the Panasonic MC-RS1 Rulo in Australia.

Panasonic Rulo
Panasonic Rulo

Panasonic’s first robot vacuum cleaner will be competing with another new entrant to the market, Dyson’s 360 Eye robot vacuum cleaner, which will go on sale in Japan during the Northern Hemisphere’s spring 2015.

The major feature of the MC-RS1 Rulo is its three-sided form factor which is deigned to better clean the corners of a room. It also has side sweepers to help it cover each inch of the floor.

In the endeavour to create a robot vacuum cleaner capable of ‘actually cleaning’ manufacturers have adopted different approaches, for example Dyson’s robot vacuum does not not use sweepers that brush dirt from the edges of the room underneath the robot vacuum, arguing that they are ineffective.

Miele’s Scout RXI uses sweepers, as does LG’s RoboKing square, which the Korean brand boasts uses its unique form factor for“94 per cent corner cleaning coverage”.

Panasonic’s gently curved equilateral triangle robot will run for one hour on automatic mode after a three hour charge. It will also come packed full of sensors to avoid obstacles, such as furniture, and detect when more force is needed to clean a particularly dirty area.

Here’s a Japanese video of the Rulo in action: