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Floor Vacuum Robot for $200

abhikhurana writes "MSNBC is running a review of Roomba, supposedly the first intelligent 'floor vac', as in a cross between vacuum cleaner and a robot. I think its especially suited for lazy bums like me. Just let it loose, sitback and enjoy. There is also a video of how it cleans the floors, which requires windows media player (what else?) to watch it. It seems that the robo cleaner can indeed do that job for which it has been designed. A related article on Techreview has slightly more details about how it works. There is also a website exclusively for Roomba."

42 of 353 comments (clear)

  1. First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny

    I bet that robot really "sucks"

    Ahahahahaha.

  2. Vacuum? by Trusty+Penfold · · Score: 4, Funny

    Are they crazy?!? Everyone knows that nature abhors a vacuum. When a vacuum and normal matter meet there's an enormous explosion. Or implosion. Or something.

  3. meoooooow! by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny


    Fluffy? Where are you Fluffy?

  4. Runaway by egg+troll · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is the first link in a chain of events that will eventually have Gene Simmons chasing me across a skyscraper with a swarm of robotic spiders!

    --

    C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
  5. Maybe I'll get one of these things so I can... by Scratch-O-Matic · · Score: 5, Funny

    sit back and chat on my video phone.

    --


    Evil is the money of root.
  6. Heh.. by NanoGator · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hey! It's R2-D2's cousin: SUX-2BU.

    Okay, dumb joke, but it beats the inevitable "That robot sucks!" jokes.

    --
    "Derp de derp."
  7. Goal by limekiller4 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know the dot-bomb is rebounding when an MIT startups goal is to suck.

    --
    My .02,
    Limekiller
  8. IMAGINE! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    A Clawhammer Cluster Of These !!!

  9. hopefully the researchers will figure out.... by edrugtrader · · Score: 5, Funny

    .... why 65% of americas youth are overweight.

    --
    MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
    1. Re:hopefully the researchers will figure out.... by egg+troll · · Score: 4, Funny
      .... why 65% of americas youth are overweight.


      Because the research was based on a Slashdot poll! I mean have you seen Cowboy Neal?

      --

      C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
  10. Beasties by anicklin · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can't imagine how clean it will get a room when the dogs and cats are chasing after it and knocking them around. Maybe you have to up the room size in order to compensate.

    Then again, a $200 interactive cat toy might be a good thing, if they never get tired of it like every other one they get. :-)

  11. Wonder how the cats are going to react to this? by Chastitina · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe it's dog-friendly, but at 7.5 pounds how is it going to hold up to the teething Labrador next door?

    Sounds like a lot of fun for when the cats misbehave, though.

    "Here kitty kitty kitty..."

  12. The Fools! by foistboinder · · Score: 5, Funny

    Don't they realize the danger?


    According to Professor Frink:

    Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok, in an orgy of blood and the kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.
    1. Re:The Fools! by unicron · · Score: 5, Funny

      Theme park owner: "Well how long do we have?"

      Professor Frink: "According to my calculations, the robots will not turn on us for at least 72 hours."

      [Robot sits up on the table and starts to choke a scientist.]

      Professor Frink: "Oh, forgot to carry the Y."

      --
      Finally, math books without any of that base 6 crap in them.
    2. Re:The Fools! by miTTio · · Score: 2, Funny
      Elementary chaos theory tells us that all robots will eventually turn against their masters and run amok, in an orgy of blood and the kicking and the biting with the metal teeth and the hurting and shoving.


      Do you have Old Glory Robot Insurance?
  13. That's bullshit.. by grub · · Score: 5, Funny


    $200 ?!
    I paid $6,000 (US) for my RealDoll and it can't move at all, let alone vacuum the floor.

    --
    Trolling is a art,
    1. Re:That's bullshit.. by egg+troll · · Score: 5, Funny

      $200 ?!

      I paid $6,000 (US) for my RealDoll and it can't move at all, let alone vacuum the floor.


      But have you tried fucking the vacuum?

      --

      C - A language that combines the speed of assembly with the ease of use of assembly.
  14. Step one by Tablizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    But first something has to clean up all the socks, underwear, pizza boxes, AOL disks, rejection notices, bannana peels, etc. that are all over the floor. This is the hard part.

  15. heh by papasui · · Score: 1, Funny

    Johnny 5 IS ALIVE!

  16. Re:Let's go back in time to the 1980's.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Robots were going to do EVERYTHING in the 70's and 80's.

    That's right, somewhere, somebody probably has a business plan from 1971 that says:

    1. Build robots
    2. ?????
    3. Profit!

  17. Nit-pick by Overt+Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
    from the to-lazy-to-stand dept.

    And, apparently, from the too-lazy-to-spell department, too...

  18. Pervert! by slagdogg · · Score: 3, Funny

    I also took Roomba home with me to see how it would do in a somewhat more sedate setting. Once again, Roomba did its thing with a minimum of noise or fuss.

    Hmmm ... I don't see any mention of what exactly "its thing" was ... ewww.

    --
    (Score:-1, Wrong)
  19. Floor VAX? by ari_j · · Score: 5, Funny

    Is it running on DEC hardware?

  20. Real man's challenge by shrikel · · Score: 5, Funny
    I can see it now:

    Geeks now have a vacuum cleaner web server!

    First one to run apache/linux on it wins.

    --
    Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
    1. Re:Real man's challenge by The+J+Kid · · Score: 2, Funny

      That's nothing...
      Imagine a whole beow...

      */me tears like heck to save skin*

      --
      Moderation: +4. Modded 70% Funny and 30% Overrated. 100% Saturated.
  21. come on now by RedWolves2 · · Score: 2, Funny

    My rugs are vacuumed everyday before I get home...That is why one gets married isn't it?

  22. Asimov would have loved the company name... by douglips · · Score: 2, Funny
  23. I'm just waiting.... by SensitiveMale · · Score: 2, Funny
    for someone to say that this is too expensive and that he built the EXACT same thing with a 486/25, and ATi AIW video card, wireless networking, and an old 15" monitor he had in the garage.


    And just a little script in Perl.

  24. Another Vacuum story? by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny
    Slashdot: News for Nerds. Things that Suck.

    (doan hit me ;)

  25. not terribly useful by WhiteChocolate42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well, one of these would only come in handy if I actually vacuumed in the first place. Now, make me a robot that posts to slashdot, drinks mountain dew and takes naps, and you've got yourself a customer! Laser eye-beams probably wouldn't hurt either. http://www.geocities.com/robot_president/quotes.ht ml

  26. Re:Good idea, but... by huh_ · · Score: 3, Funny

    So you only get the floor mostly clean. Seems like it could use some more work...

    Well, to me, mostly clean is much better than the horrible mess I have now.
    You can eat off my floors, but not because they are that sanitary, but because they have all that food on them.

  27. Re:Why is it... by worthb · · Score: 5, Funny
    I want my vacuuming to be sort of like setting up a maintainance cron job to run at 3 AM.


    I don't know about you but if that thing started running in my house at 3 AM it would end up out the window.
    --
    "the universal aptitude for ineptitude makes any human accomplishment an incredible miracle" - Stapp's Law
  28. Re:It's too slow by dubiousmike · · Score: 5, Funny

    I think the manufacturer figures you are going to leave your house at some point or another.

    silly manufacturer

    :P

  29. Scrubbing bubbles by ACNeal · · Score: 3, Funny

    Get those scribbing bubbles by Dow.

    all the adds show them as autonomous. You just apply them to the bathroom surface, and they zoom around like they were at a 1970's skate park. According to the ads, they do a pretty good job to.

    I always wondered why they didn't use these as the basis for nano-technology.

  30. Re:This is Rodney Brooks' company. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    "This guy is to robot-geeks what RMS is to Open-Source."

    Annoying?

  31. Re:Their new robots by NutMan · · Score: 2, Funny
    In the Friendly Robotics FAQ, they have some interesting robots in the works:

    Q: Are any new robotic products coming to the market soon?
    A:Yes, our R&D is currently developing other household products that will eliminate spending time on mundane choirs.

    Are they targeting the Vienna Choir Boys or the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? Either way it seems like this is kind of a small market.

  32. ...And space comedy movies! by Fig,+formerly+A.C. · · Score: 4, Funny
    I want MegaMaid.

    "She's gone from suck...to blow!"

    --
    Murphy was an optimist.
  33. Re:Let's go back in time to the 1980's.... by captainstupid · · Score: 2, Funny

    Instead of robots, we got helper monkies.

    They can do way more useful stuff than robots...
    Steal doughnuts from the donut shop by stringing multiple doughnuts on their tail and arms.

    They aren't forced to abide by those crazy moral laws that are supposed to be built into robots.

    --
    "Anyway, long story short... is a phrase whose origins are complicated and rambling...." - Abraham Simpson
  34. I have something like this. by spudwiser · · Score: 3, Funny

    It's called a cat. It roams around the house eating anything on the floor and depositing it in a box that needs to be emptied every few days. It was even free!

    --
    .cig - what you do after winning a good flame war
  35. Screw the vacuuming... by docbrown42 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Bring on the sexbots.

    Which would you rather spend $200 bucks on?

    --
    Ed Wedig
    Graphic design services
    docbrown.net
  36. more than one of them in a house??? by Sabalon · · Score: 3, Funny

    Cause a beowulf cluster of these would really suck!

  37. Re:Except the batteries don't last long enough by SerpentMage · · Score: 3, Funny

    Gee whiz then I would need two of these gadgets. Our house measures without the garage and closets about 3500 square feet. Actually that kind of sucks since the vacuum cleaner would be running constantly.

    My question though is what about the dog factor. I have English Bulldogs that consider vaccuum cleaners the enemy...

    --

    "You can't make a race horse of a pig"
    "No," said Samuel, "but you can make very fast pig"