# In 2015, iRobot's Roomba 980 mapped the home with a camera, for 899 dollars

> Presented by iRobot in September 2015, this robot vacuum cleaner starts from a smartphone and is meant to clean a whole floor without help.

Published on 2026-10-16

The Roomba 980 draws a map of the rooms as it cleans. According to iRobot, it is the first time the company has put its camera-based localisation technology, called vSLAM, in a consumer product.

The robot connects to wifi and is controlled with iRobot's HOME app. Users can schedule up to seven cleaning runs a week from their phone.

It went on sale in the United States and Canada from 17 September 2015, at a starting price of 899 dollars on iRobot's website.

## Sources

- [iRobot (official product pages)](https://media.irobot.com/2015-09-16-iRobot-Enters-the-Smart-Home-with-Roomba-980-Vacuum-Cleaning-Robot)

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