Today in London, Dyson introduced a brand new handheld vacuum, the DC31. It weighs 2.2lb and is essentially an upgrade from the DC16, but this one packs a switched reluctance motor, which Sir James claims is the “fastest motor in the world, by a long stretch.”
Said motor twirls at 104,000 revolutions per minute. To put that into perspective, the Dyson motor is “ten times as fast as a commercial aircraft, five times as fast as a Formula 1 engine and more than twice as fast as the most powerful industrial milling machines.”
Remember that rumor that was floating around last year about Dyson wanting to get into cars? Well, it looks like it could happen in the future. According to Dyson, the technology is scalable and there’s a team of 50 motor engineers at the Wiltshire HQ and many of them have automotive backgrounds.
The DC31 goes on sale next month in the UK for £129 (the Animal be an extra £20) and will hit Stateside in September. No word on price, but I’d guess that it will retail for around $200. We just received word that the DC31 will be $219.99 and the DC31 Animal will retail for $269.99. Or you could hit up the Wiimbledon eBay auction and grab the DC16 Animal for much cheaper.
via Telegraph
I get that the guy is super cool and smart and everything (even has a good voice!), but it’s definitely time to hire a model for the press shots.
Haha, I was kind of thinking that too while reading the article.
Uhhh…is anyone else concerned about this thing potentially spawning black holes or smashing atoms??? This guy is playing with FIRE!
Pfft. Everybody knows you don’t spawn black holes until you hit 105,000 RPM.
Atoms could smash at speeds above 95,000 RPM, but only if you put it next to a running microwave.
Duh.
My bad…
But God forbid some poor soul vacuum up some god pariticles while vacuuming up bread crumbs around THEIR RUNNING MICROWAVE!
EXCUSE ME for trying to save the planet!
Its a vacuum cleaner motor.
2nd, why compare it to Formula 1 cars and aircraft, thats like comparing oranges and apples. Compare it with other vacuum cleaners on the market, douche! If the technology is scalable, it will not reach 104,000rpm and be stable in larger sizes. This is silly brand-awareness marketing.
I think the comparison is a hint about transportation vehicles.
I remember awhile back seeing that Dyson developed a hand dryer that looked like it might actually work. But I have yet to see one installed anywhere as of yet?
I actually used it somewhere in Vegas.. Bellagio maybe??… It worked much better than any other hand drier, and actually better than towels.. The only issue is that you really need an automatic door so that way you don’t have to touch the door handle on your way out also (which the Bellagio had).. It almost felt like a squeegee was wiping the water off your hands as you pulled them through the machine..
I doubt you’ll see them around in most places since the price is probably higher than most.
Really? They’re all over the place in NYC and SFO (or was it PDX?).
They’re in Boston too. Also – I WON THIS AUCTION! Psyched to try it out on all the dog hair in my apartment.
I’ve seen them a few places. The most notable is that they’re at the IKEA in Dallas.
I have been to Ikea several times but never to the toilet. Guess I need to check it out then. Avoiding public toilets doesn’t help my running across one.
But does it suck ?
Sorry couldn’t resist.
Sorry but it’s still far from being the fastest motor in the world, the JetCat P60 runs up to 165,000 rpm…
I was at the press event in London on Thursday…the DDM is certainly very exciting, and I can’t wait to see what other applications the Malmsbury army of design engineers and scientists will devise for it!
Turbo pumps like this are common in vacuum systems. Turbochargers routinely spin at 100,000 rpm or higher. Does it make sense for a vacuum cleaner?
You need a high speed pump when you are trying to evacuate a vacuum chamber (or system) to very low pressures (1 millionth of atmospheric pressure or below).
I guess the idea is the power/weight ratio… a small pump that moves air quickly. In any case, measuring a vacuum cleaner by the rpm of its pump seems like a marketing gimmick. How is RPM the right yardstick?