diy Top @Kew Drive

[MLTR 0]

Thank you KS for the Mi Robot unboxing. Product looks nice! So well packed!

Would be very interested to hear your review after using the product. I was told that Ecovacs is also another popular brand in China?

 

[kstoh 3]

13 hours ago, MLTR said:

Thank you KS for the Mi Robot unboxing. Product looks nice! So well packed!

Would be very interested to hear your review after using the product. I was told that Ecovacs is also another popular brand in China?

 

I am not familiar with the Ecovacs but after you mentioned it, I did some research. This youtube video suggest the Mi Robot is better at cleaning:

But as I will elaborate later, the Mi Robot's mapping system is so advanced. I don't think the Ecovacs has the same mapping feature.

[kstoh 3]

The Mi Robot box comes with everything you need but there are no spare brushes or dust filters. You can however buy them separately. There is no remote. You can use your iPhone, iPad or Android device as remote. The machine can be operated via the two buttons on the top. But for more advanced features like remote activation/monitoring or scheduling, you need your phone or ipad.

The robot operates on 110 to 220V, so it can be used in Singapore. The plug is the standard China 2 flat pin plug. To plug into our standard 3 pin socket, you can easily use an adapter. See picture below.

The instruction manual is completely in Mandarin. I cannot read it.

Edited March 9, 2017 by kstoh

[kstoh 3]

Mi Home App

Download this app from Apple Store (or Android Playstore) and create an account with Xiaomi. You can either use your phone number or email address to create an account. I suggest you use your email address and choose "Mainland China" as your location. When I used my Singapore mobile number, the system detected my location as Singapore and I was not able to configure the app to work. I think because this Mi Robot is not sold in Singapore, when I tried to add the device to my account, there was no robot vacuum cleaner for me to choose. Only those products (M1 Air Cleaner etc) that are sold in Mi Singapore store appeared. It was only after I switched location to China that the Mi Robot appeared for me to add.

After you create your account, login to your account, search for your M1 Robot's WiFi (mine was "rockrobo-vacuumxxxx") and connect to it. Then go to My Devices > Add Device. Select the Mi Robot Vacuum Cleaner.

Enter your home WiFi network name and password. Disconnect from the Mi Robot WiFI and connect back to your home WIFI. (You may have to switch between the two networks a few times - I don't know why).

If you encounter problems with the Mi Robot WiFi, you can reset the WiFI by pressing and holding both buttons on the Mi Robot. Lift the top cover to check that the blue light is blinking.

P.S. Discovered that it is now possible to create an account using Singapore phone number and location. The app, notifications and device now can speak English. Please read the later posts.

Edited April 24, 2017 by kstoh

[kstoh 3]

Mi Robot's Test Run!

My Mi Robot's maiden voyage was impressive. The robot is 9.65 cm in height, so it can go under my bed, sofa and consoles. Places where our normal vacuum cleaner finds hard to reach. I should have arranged my furniture a little, to make a little more space for my robot to enter easily to clean the area under my Barcelona chair, but I did not bother.

The most impressive feature of the Mi Robot is its mapping ability. It very quickly mapped and drew an outline of my room which appeared on my phone. You can see from the picture below the path taken by the robot, the areas cleaned, and the areas not reached. The mapping is very accurate. On the right is my wardrobe area with a low cabinet with 4 legs. On the left bottom is my bed, with 5 legs. Bottom right is a round cabinet. Bottom left is a square cabinet placed at an angle. Top left is my Barcelona Chair. Top is the docking station.

I am not aware of any other robot vacuum with this feature.

Edited March 9, 2017 by kstoh

[kstoh 3]

I also tried the Mi Robot on level 2 of my house, where the robot moved from one room to another. Impressive!

[zph19101 2]

3 minutes ago, kstoh said:

My Mi Robot's maiden voyage was impressive.

The most impressive feature of the Mi Robot is its mapping ability. It very quickly mapped and drew an outline of my room which appeared on my phone. You can see from the picture below the path taken by the robot, the areas cleaned, and the areas not reached. The mapping is very accurate. On the right is my wardrobe area with a low cabinet with 4 legs. On the left bottom is my bed, with 5 legs. Bottom right is a round cabinet. Bottom left is a square cabinet placed at an angle. Top left is the docking station.

I am not aware of any other robot vacuum with this feature.

hi , could you pm me the link of this mi robot ? Many thanks

[kstoh 3]

Finally, I put the Mi Robot to the ultimate test, living life on the edge. My Mi Robot is only 2 days old. If it dropped into the pond, it would be a disaster.

 

[kstoh 3]

The end of the video shows my Mi Robot rounding the top of some steps, cleaning along the edge of the pond and then on to the massage chair and potted plant area. The Mi Robot accurately maps the area. In the picture below, you can see the top of the steps, the massage chair and the square plant pot. The map shows the robot now on the left side. It is cleaning under my dining table and chairs, but I did not take a video of it.

As everything is in Mandarin, I have provided some simple translations below. The Mi Robot will also send you notifications.

Although the Mi Robot has a drop sensor and it did not drop down the stairs or into the pond, it seems like Xiaomi does not want to take a chance. It does not appear in the manual but I found a separate leaflet which seems to suggest you should put some barrier before your steps or pond. This barrier is not included in the box but you can purchase it from some vendors.

 

[kstoh 3]

9 hours ago, zph19101 said:

hi , could you pm me the link of this mi robot ? Many thanks

You can go to Qoo10.sg, Lazada or AliExpress to search for "Mi Robot" and you will find many vendors selling it. At Qoo10.sg, the prices are now S$399 upwards. Lazada is S$428. I bought at S$369 plus $3.99 shipping but it is now out of stock. Perhaps you can add your name to "Restock List"?

Vendor I bought from: http://list.qoo10.sg/item/XIAOMI-LIVING-XIAOMI-VACUUM-MI-ROBOT-JAPAN-NIDEC-MOTOR-SINGAPORE-WARRANTY/496821384?selectedOptions=

[zph19101 2]

6 hours ago, kstoh said:

You can go to Qoo10.sg, Lazada or AliExpress to search for "Mi Robot" and you will find many vendors selling it. At Qoo10.sg, the prices are now S$399 upwards. Lazada is S$428. I bought at S$369 plus $3.99 shipping but it is now out of stock. Perhaps you can add your name to "Restock List"?

Vendor I bought from: http://list.qoo10.sg/item/XIAOMI-LIVING-XIAOMI-VACUUM-MI-ROBOT-JAPAN-NIDEC-MOTOR-SINGAPORE-WARRANTY/496821384?selectedOptions=

Thanks a lot for sharing..

[kstoh 3]

The robot sends notifications of important events to your phone, but they are all in Mandarin. With the help of my colleague, I did a simple translation.

Quick conclusion after the first week of use: the robot appears to do a better job of cleaning the floor than a human. Not sure why. Maybe the robot cleans systematically area by area, while the human is only human and will miss certain areas. 

[runmyhousehold 0]

Hi! Love your detailed explanations about so many things!

I was wondering how your LED lights are after these few years? Have you had any more driver problems or had to change the lights? What brand did you buy?

Also, how is your Accoya wood doing? It's engineered wood? (I'm trying to understand the plethora of wood and pseudo wood options - I'm drowning!!)

 

Thank you so much for your blog.  It is really godsend!

[kstoh 3]

Hi, unfortunately, the answer to both questions is not good.

The LED lights do last longer but they still spoil once in a while. It is always the driver. And I have a big problem, due to the design of my LED lights. For PLC, I could just change the bulb. I need not take down the entire casing. For LED, you have to take down the entire unit, casing and all. This meant applying force to remove the fixture from the false ceiling. Inevitably, the sides are damaged. I wrote about it in my earlier post here. However, I have seen newer designs of LED downlights where you can remove just the centre part and replace the driver, without removing the entire casing. So, I will still recommend LED lights but make sure the design is such that I can easily replace the driver. I bought most of my lights from A Lighting. The contact details are in my earlier post.

As for my Accoya wood, I am quite disappointed. The wood itself is excellent. No warping unlike chengai wood which will warp (naturally) over time. But I can never apply wood stain on the Accoya wood. After some time, bubbles will form and the layer will peel off. It keeps happening and I have given up. Currently, I am just waiting for everything to peel off naturally before deciding what to do. A picture tells a thousand words. The same wood stain applied on my chengai decking has no issues.

 

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Edited October 21, 2018 by kstoh

[runmyhousehold 0]

Thank you so much for the prompt reply! 

I find that in many forums, there isn't a good "follow up" review of how things do with time.  So this is definitely useful for us trying to decide between various materials.