Evolution Robotics Extends Award-Winning Product Line With Mint™ Plus Automatic Floor Cleaner

PASADENA, Calif., Sept. 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Evolution Robotics, Inc., a leading robotics technology company, today unveiled the next generation in robotic floor care, Mint™ Plus Automatic Floor Cleaner. Building on the success of the original Mint product line, the Mint Plus offers an enhanced wet cleaning system, including a self-dispensing reservoir, faster recharge and a larger battery providing up to four hours of run time. Mint Plus pairs technology with practicality, offering consumers a simple, easy and affordable way to keep up with life's demands while maintaining a clean and healthy home.

Mint Plus will be sold at a variety of national and online retailers this fall, with retail prices starting at $299.99, while the award-winning first generation of the product, Mint, continues to be available at retailers with prices starting at $199.99.

Mint Plus is a robotic floor cleaning appliance designed exclusively for hard surface floor cleaning and automatically dusts and wet mops hard surface floors using popular cleaning cloths, such as Swiffer® brand Dry and Wet Cloths and other similar products. Perfect for any home, Mint Plus is especially convenient for pet owners, those with allergies, elderly, busy parents or anyone looking for a cleaning appliance that can simplify their life.

"With Mint Plus, we listened to what consumers are looking for and developed a product to meet that need," said Dr. Paolo Pirjanian, CEO of Evolution Robotics. "We're always aiming to improve our line of products and are thrilled to share the next generation of the Mint brand with our customers."

Additionally, Evolution Robotics will extend the product line through accessories created to meet the needs of consumers including a turbo-charging cradle, which cuts charge time in half just by setting the product on the cradle.  Frequent users can now clean for up to four hours dry sweeping, charge in just two hours, and then either dry sweep or wet mop again.  The cradle easily fits into small spaces and provides a convenient place to store Mint when not in use.

Guided by Evolution's own NorthStar® technology, Mint and Mint Plus are smart enough to navigate and clean a room systematically without human assistance, meticulously tracking surfaces that have already been cleaned to help ensure the Mint doesn't miss a spot.  

With the launch of NorthStar® 2.0, the latest technology available with Mint Plus, the system features an extendable cleaning area. Consumers can now use two or more NorthStar® Navigation Cubes to expand Mint Plus' cleaning area.  Mint has always offered an accessory Cube, but with this next evolution, Mint Plus can move from one Cube area to another allowing the device to clean a much larger area, up to 2,000 square feet.  Lastly, NorthStar® 2.0 includes a new 'Pause' function which allows consumers to change cleaning cloths mid-cycle and resume cleaning areas not yet covered.

To clean into hard to reach places, the Mint family's innovative square design breaks the mold of traditional round robots allowing the cleaning cloth to clean along edges of walls and all the way into corners. Mint adapts to different home environments using first-of-their-kind floor sensors allowing the cleaner to adjust the friction of the cleaning pad to maintain optimal traction with its wheels.

For additional information about Mint, Mint Plus and the full line of accessories, please visit http://www.mintcleaner.com.

About Evolution Robotics

Evolution Robotics, Inc., based in Pasadena, CA, is a technology company that partners with brand leaders to make their robots smarter. The company develops cutting-edge technology to enable the next generation of robots to perform useful and interesting tasks autonomously with a level of artificial intelligence that has only been available for military and high-cost applications.  Evolution Robotics, Inc. is known for its autonomous navigation and vision technologies which have revolutionized the field by providing extremely complex technologies at the consumer level pricing.  With the launch of the Mint™ Automatic Floor Cleaner in 2010, Evolution Robotics, Inc. successfully created a consumer brand for useful and interesting robotic products for the home today and in the future. Evolution Robotics is an operating company of Idealab, a creator and operator of technology businesses. www.evolution.com

Mint and NorthStar are a registered trademarks of Evolution Robotics, Inc. Swiffer is a registered trademark of Procter and Gamble, Inc. All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2011 All rights reserved.

SOURCE Evolution Robotics