Evaluating the battery life of the Vector Robot

Vector’s battery has been a major discussion point right from the moment Anki introduced it (Vector is now owned by Digital Dream Labs)…

Photo by James Pond on Unsplash

Vector’s battery has been a major discussion point right from the moment Anki introduced it (Vector is now owned by Digital Dream Labs). The main reason behind this is unlike the previous consumer robots manufactured by Anki, Vector is expected to be always powered ON. While Vector is usually found sitting on his charger, his most interesting behavior is when he ventures out. And whenever he ventures out, Vector must live on his battery. If the battery runs low, Vector needs to return back to his charger and thus all the excitement is over. Assuming that Vector ventures out 2–3 times a day, that implies 2–3 battery discharge cycles daily; hence the concern that the battery would wear off in some time. A Vector which cannot be outside his charger for more than five minutes is not interesting any more. Hence the duration of the discharge cycle is a key measure of Vector’s performance. But, if the battery dies, so does Vector. Hence the number of discharge …