So it was that two recent robotic floor cleaning products caught my attention and I got them in to test.

The first is the ($400) from Neato Robotics, essentially a direct competitor to the iRobot Roomba line.

The XV-11 uses a laser range finder system housed in a small turret on top of the device to map out the room so as to optimize cleaning and augment its obstacle detection and avoidance abilities.

When you start the XV-11 you realize that there's a surprisingly powerful vacuum system on board … the XV-11 sounds like a miniature Lear jet as it brings its fans up to speed and it is pretty loud in operation.

Like the Roomba, the XV-11 comes with a charging dock that it will usually locate and dock with at the end of its cleaning cycle and, also like the Roomba, you can program what time it starts cleaning.