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Dyson today announced its first robotic vacuum cleaner, after 16 years of research and £28 million of investment.

The Dyson 360 Eye will cost in the region of £750 when it goes on sale in Britain next summer.

The robot uses a panoramic camera lens on top of the machine to map its way around the house, moving on caterpillar tracks and cleaning each room before going back to its docking station.

The Dyson 360 Eye (pictured) as a 360° lens so it knows where it is in a room and where it has already cleaned. It uses a panoramic camera lens on top of the machine to map its way around the house, moving on caterpillar tracks and cleaning each room before going back to its docking station

Infrared sensors will stop it bumping into furniture.

Users will set its cleaning schedule via a smartphone app - allowing them to start a clean even when out of the house.

Dyson follows Miele, Samsung and LG into the robotic vacuum cleaning sector, but the company claims 360 degree camera - which can see all around the room at once - is unique.

The UK firm says the machine has the most powerful suction of any robot vacuum on the market.

The cleaner is powered by a V2 Dyson digital motor - the result of £150million of research - and uses the company's bagless Cyclone technology to separate dust and dirt.

Sir James Dyson, who launched the machine in Japan this morning, said: 'Most robotic vacuum cleaners don't see their environment, have little suction, and don't clean properly. They are gimmicks.

'We've been developing a unique 360 degree vision system that lets our robot see where it is, where it has been, and where it is yet to clean.

'Vision, combined with our high speed digital motor and cyclone technology, is the key to achieving a high performing robot vacuum – a genuine labour saving device.'

The new machine is Dyson's second attempt at a robotic cleaner.

In 2001 the firm was close to launching the DC06 - a large robotic machine which relied on dozens of infrared sensors all around the body.

The panoramic lens' (pictured) shape and position gives the robot the ability to see around a room. Its live cameras capture 30 images a second, to build a complete and continuously updated picture of its environment. The 'eye' also features 'simultaneous localisation' and mapping software to create a 360˚ view of the room

Continuous Tank Tracks, or caterpillar tracks, maintain speed and keep the robot on course as it moves across different floor types (pictured). Once the house is clean, the robot navigates back to its docking station

But the company decided to abandon the project and go back to the drawing board,

Nick Schneider, a robotics design engineer at the firm, said: 'This is a good example of how we will not release a technology until we are sure it will be a really high performer.

'We were going to release the DC06 in 2001 but we decided to start again. It had so many sensors on it that it became really heavy and was just not right.'

Since then Dyson has had a permanent team of robotics engineers working on a robot cleaner.

For the last two years 200 engineers have been working on the 360 Eye model, which weighs 2.37 kg (5.2lbs) - less than a full-sized Dyson cleaner.

Dyson told MailOnline there were more than 420 patents and patent applications worldwide relating to technology used in the robot.

The camera - which is central to its performance - takes up to 30 images of the room every second and means the machine can constantly establish where it is, where it has been and where it still needs to clean. 

Elsewhere, the Dyson 360 Eye (pictured left) features a Dyson digital motor V2 that spins at 78,000RPM, this is the highest suction of any robot vacuum. Its Radial Root Cyclone technology (pictured right) pulls microscopic dust and allergens out of the air and into the bin

This graphic reveals the component parts of the new vacuum design, that was said have cost £28 million during 16 years of research. Dyson told MailOnline there were more than 420 patents and patent applications worldwide relating to technology used in the robot. It can also be controlled remotely using an app

The machine has 20 to 30 minutes of battery life and manoeuvres around on tank-like tracks that can take it over small obstacles.

When it runs out of battery it will return to its docking station, resuming the clean when it has charged again.

When the 0.4litre dust bin is full a message will be sent to the user's smartphone.

The cyclone technology captures particles down to 0.5 microns - or 600 times smaller than a standard typed full stop.

The brush bar (pictured) extends to full width of the machine and uses patented carbon fibre technology to remove fine dust on hard floors, and has stiff nylon bristles to agitate and clean carpets. For the last two years 200 engineers have been working on the model, which weighs 2.37kg (5.2lbs) - less than a full-sized Dyson

The brush bar, which extends to full width of the machine, uses patented carbon fibre technology to remove fine dust on hard floors and has stiff nylon bristles to agitate and clean carpets.

Rumours the company was working on a robotic vacuum cleaner gathered pace earlier this year when researchers at Imperial College London announced a £5 million tie-up focusing on the technology.

Dyson said the 360 Eye, known until now as Project N223, followed £28 million worth of research and development by a team of more than 200 Dyson engineers.

Algebra, probability theory, geometry and trigonometry was used to create the 'eye' of the machine, and 31 software engineers took more than 100,000 hours to create the navigation system.

The machine has 20 to 30 minutes of battery life and manoeuvres around on tank-like tracks that can take it over small obstacles. It also detects objects and avoids obstacles ahead using proximity and infrared sensors

Dyson's robotic vacuum cleaner enters a market currently dominated by Roomba (pictured) which makes circular autonomous cleaners. This i-robot Roomba 562 model costs £360. By comparison, the Dyson 360 Eye is expected to cost in the region of £750 when it goes on sale in Britain next summer