I, Robot

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 23rd Sep, '08, 08:56

So how good are these Roomba vacuum cleaning robots? Are they worth the money yet?

Morrolan · Post by **Morrolan** » 23rd Sep, '08, 09:14

we're quite pleased with it, it's a great time saver especially when you have cats.

it's not very effective on rugs and carpet, though, so when you have wooden or stone floors you'll have the most benefit from it.

ours just gave up the ghost, regretfully. sucking up a toy mouse has damaged the cleaning head, which has to be replaced.

other than that it's great.

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 23rd Sep, '08, 09:20

There's a Hello Kitty version available, so it must be good! A great way to terrorise your pets.

s10hkroom.jpg

baloo · Post by **baloo** » 23rd Sep, '08, 09:25

you could get a couple and network them.

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 23rd Sep, '08, 09:45

The Roomba won a Choice magazine 2006 shonky (products that make you weep in despair) award. A third generation series was released in 2007. From the website:

"The CHOICE Shonky Award for Best Dirt Redistribution goes to the…

iROBOT ROOMBA robot vacuum cleaner

It’s about time they invented a robot that vacuums the house for us — it’s just that the iROBOT has a few minor shortcomings. Like, it’s almost useless on carpet. It’s OK on hard floors, though extremely slow, taking minutes to cover what you’d take seconds to do. And it’s noisy. Oh, and ours didn’t automatically return to its base for recharging, as it’s supposed to.

But what really made us doubt was its dirt redistribution function: when the small dirt container starts filling up, every time the iROBOT bumps into a wall or obstacle, a little heap of collected dirt falls out again. iROBOT? iDon’tthinkso."

Post-October 2005 Roombas have an interface that allows you to control or modify Roomba's behavior and remotely monitor its sensors and create enhancements to it. There are even Roomba hacking sites.

Apparently the Electrolux Trilobyte is a bit better but costs more. The best one I've seen was made by Friendly Robotics, but I'm not sure it's still available.

friendlyvac.jpg

Morrolan · Post by **Morrolan** » 23rd Sep, '08, 10:16

the Choice article was a load of piss. none of the points mentioned is an issue with our machine:

useless on carpet: not necessarily true. it is not very good on carpet, something which is mentioned in the product description.

extremely slow: bull, the whole point of this machine is to be able to use it when you're not at home or have no time for it. it's not a replacement of a normal vacuum, but it sure helps if you have pets shedding hair.

noisy: it's a vacuum... duh. they're all noisy. it's not noisier than our other, normal one.

did not return: must have been a glitch; ours always returns to the home base.

dirt falling out: never happened in the almost 3 years we have it. oh, and it's helpful when you empty the dirt container every time before you use it. duh, again.

Fat Bob · Post by **Fat Bob** » 23rd Sep, '08, 11:05

Move this to the Aussie forum please. We all have maids in Singapore........

.....though I will not comment on how good my maid is on carpet.....

BFG · Post by **BFG** » 23rd Sep, '08, 13:11

Fat Bob wrote:Move this to the Aussie forum please. We all have maids in Singapore........

.....though I will not comment on how good my maid is on carpet.....

I have heard that they complain about burns on the hands and knees.

Allegedly.....

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 23rd Sep, '08, 13:56

baloo wrote:you could get a couple and network them.

Or I could get five to make sure they do exactly the same job two would do.

New house coming soon and I don't own a vac. I'm just looking into the option. Is 580$ for a Roomba 560 a good price?

Morrolan · Post by **Morrolan** » 23rd Sep, '08, 14:39

Burbage wrote:
baloo wrote:you could get a couple and network them.
Or I could get five to make sure they do exactly the same job two would do.

New house coming soon and I don't own a vac. I'm just looking into the option. Is 580$ for a Roomba 560 a good price?

shit, that's expensive. we paid $350 for ours at Hardly Normal. granted, that was almost 3 years ago and the previous model, but still.

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 23rd Sep, '08, 15:05

Burbage wrote:New house coming soon and I don't own a vac.

Speaking from other people's experience, I'm not certain a Roomba would be suitable as an 'only' vacuum cleaner. If that's the case, you'd be looking at buying a Roomba + a non-robotic vac.

If cost is an issue, you may be better off overall by spending the money on a good all-round vac.

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 24th Sep, '08, 06:25

Bender wrote:
Burbage wrote:New house coming soon and I don't own a vac.
Speaking from other people's experience, I'm not certain a Roomba would be suitable as an 'only' vacuum cleaner. If that's the case, you'd be looking at buying a Roomba + a non-robotic vac.

If cost is an issue, you may be better off overall by spending the money on a good all-round vac.

I have a broom. And it currently does a far better and faster job than a vacuum cleaner. I also have a dustbuster which is brilliant.

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 24th Sep, '08, 06:57

Burbage wrote:I have a broom. And it currently does a far better and faster job than a vacuum cleaner. I also have a dustbuster which is brilliant.

It would appear that you're all sorted then.

Burbage · Post by **Burbage** » 24th Sep, '08, 07:37

Ah no, because something that means I don't have to do it so often or at all, would be a considerable improvement over having to do it (either with a broom or a human guided vacuum). The broom will always be there as a back-up.

If it works, that is: a matter upon which we seem to not have concensus. Have actually used one of these things Bender?

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 24th Sep, '08, 12:58

Burbage wrote:Have actually used one of these things Bender?

Trialled one and thought it was crap, but my expectations of this sort of thing may be higher than others (no, M, I'm not having a go at you). I also know people who have them and opinions vary considerably, some love 'em, some don't. I think it's one of those things where you have to try it out and decide whether it's for you.

It's interesting that these things don't seem to have progressed much - low market uptake maybe? The Friendly Vac, which was probably the best robot vac, is no longer available, and the (expensive!) Dyson DC06 never made it to market.

dyson_ultravac.jpg

Lichtgestalt · Post by **Lichtgestalt** » 24th Sep, '08, 22:00

BFG wrote:
Fat Bob wrote:Move this to the Aussie forum please. We all have maids in Singapore........

.....though I will not comment on how good my maid is on carpet.....
I have heard that they complain about burns on the hands and knees.

It's worse on rough stone floors....

Do the robots go over small humps like door sills?

Bender · Post by **Bender** » 13th Oct, '09, 05:51

Here's what happens when you attach a couple of LEDs to a roomba and do a time exposure. Kinda funky!

Roomba JP.jpg

Morrolan · Post by **Morrolan** » 13th Oct, '09, 06:30

ours just broke down. still within warranty luckily (one week left!) so we're having it repaired or replaced.

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