The iRobot Roomba i7+ used a grid pattern to impressively navigate our floors and even maneuver over the dark carpet in the lab. The vacuum claims to have smart mapping technology that allows it ...

Even better, the Roomba i7+ intelligently ... you can divide the map up into named rooms, and dispatch the robot to clean only, for instance, the bathroom, or the kitchen and spare room only.

Not so with iRobot’s new Roomba i7+ ($950), which empties itself. While the device is powering up, a separate vacuum inside its base charger sucks the dirt and dust from the Roomba’s innards ...