Robot house cleaners have recently received a lot of attention, and rightly so. While the Roomba series of vacuum cleaners kick-started the trend for people to accept these robots into their homes, Neato Robotics have clearly made significant advances on the market. Their Botvac machines use LaserSmart™ navigation to generate an accurate floor plan that can then be followed by the robot, tracking its movements and making sure the whole floor receives a good clean. Beyond just vacuum cleaners, Roomba have also developed a series of mopping robots. The iRobot Bravva takes the hassle out of hardwood floors and tiles, leaving your floors spotless, only requiring you to empty the tank once it’s done – the robots even return to a docking station to replenish their batteries

Just like the vacuum cleaners for indoors, Husqvarna, Worx, and Robomow have developed robots that eliminate the chore of lawn maintenance. Admittedly, these are not as powerful as a gasoline-powered ride-on mower, but come with benefits that will most likely outweigh their lacking power. They require no manual effort and can be set to operate on a set schedule (twice a week, for example). Requiring only some set up work to stop it colliding with any denser vegetation or escaping the bounds of your garden, these robotic mowers are certainly a step in the right direction. Relying on a battery (which is charged via a station the robot returns to automatically) means they are extraordinarily quiet (they can even be run at night) and are somewhat more environmentally friendly than their gasoline counterparts. ‘A Roomba for the garden’, for sure.

Back into the house, the Amazon Echo has recently made headlines all around the world. Truly brilliant, the Echo allows you to do a multitude of things without the push of a button – all you need to do is speak. A single mention of ‘Alexa’, the command it responds to, will activate its microphone. The Echo can play music from Spotify, turn on your Philips Hue lightbulbs, read you the news, book a cab, queue up a movie on your TV and even read out instructions for you to prepare a myriad of cocktails. Not quite a feature, but one of the most powerful abilities, is its understanding of human voice. In the past, devices that ‘listened’ to us speak would often make mistakes, either completely misunderstanding what we mean or fully ignoring it. The Echo has managed to overcome this hurdle, making it the perfect personal assistant at home.

Whether you’re checking into a hotel or stepping into your car, keys are no longer what they used to be. Plastic cards and remote control key fobs have now existed for many years, but Gate have completely re-imagined the whole concept by packing the locking mechanism on your door with a range of useful features. Gate incorporates a motion-activated camera that can stream to your phone in 720p that integrates with 2-way enabled audio, allowing you to communicate with the postman when he comes to deliver something that won’t quite fit through the letterbox. Gate also incorporates a keypad lock that allows people with access codes to go into your house (and gives you a notification when they do) as well as a physical key cylinder for those of us who are a little more old-school. This truly is a gadget that will simplify your life and keep your home safer.

These robots for the home will make your life simpler, be it by cleaning your house or simply by making your house a livelier place at the call of your voice. They are increasingly becoming more affordable and available, so why not incorporate them into your home?