Slashdot Mirror
iRobot Moves Into Your House
MacAndrew writes "An NYT article today expands beyond an earlier /. and annoying futurism to a multiplying line of robots from iRobot, founded by some tinkering MIT grads in Somerville, MA. The robots have found applications ranging from chasing dust bunnies ($200) to exploring the Great Pyramid to bumping around Afghan caves for mines (a war reporter is another possibility), and so appear to be moving beyond the gee whiz Rosie Jetson stage of technology. I'm intrigued that their company name so bluntly builds off of Apple and Asimov symbols, and the prospect that a product with such a chummy name will doubtless soon be sporting lethal force (cf. Predator's recent adventures. So -- anyone get one for Xmas? Chanukah? Or just fun?"
I got a Roomba for my boyfriend and my Mother for Christmas. They think it's the neatest thing since sliced bread.
The only problems we've found so far are that if you have small (e.g. 6"ish) gaps in your wall, say a bookcase, gap, CD tower, gap, bookcase, the Roomba may get confused and not realize there's a wall there. That's what the virtual wall is for. The other issue is animals. They don't know what to think of it.
Karma: Food Fight (Mostly affected by Date Plate).
I hate vaccuming. I'm wondering how easy it is to maintain... Will keeping the robot running (emptying bags, charging, etc.) be less work than just vaccuming alone. Also how well will it cover the floor? will it miss large spots because of charis and other obscacles? I'm not gonna have to go in after it and vaccum spots it missed, will I?
-Derick
That is a badass little device. I've got several cats, and I was worried about whether it could handle kitty litter tracked out of the bathroom, or the rather large amount of cat hair. It handles both just fine. Also, my house is rather cluttered with workout equipment and electronics, and it manages to navigate very well, even getting into corners most of the time. all in all, it was an excellent purchase. I do recommend getting the 2 hour charger if you can find it, though.
"This is your world. These are your people. You can live for yourself today, or help build tomorrow for everyone."
The Asmimov thing I get with the I Robot. And it is a homage to a great master whose work about robots has influenced 99.9 of robotic sci-fi since, and probably 100% of all people building robots now. Paying some respects in a major way.
"I'm intrigued that their company name so bluntly builds off of Apple and Asimov symbols"
I disagree with the connection to apple. Because IBOOK and IMAC were products long after I-Robot hit the shelves. I Robot hit the shelves in 1950, so I say they got the jump on Apple. Maybe Asmimovs family should seek some sort of injunction. An IBook,Imac is a silicon based calculating machine, here we have prior art for 52 years, that Asimov actively developed until 1976. Apple is always suing people for walking past the factory, or releasing a case that emulates theirs.
I like Apple, I own an IBOOK. Good little machine. I own three x86's running windows, linux, and solaris(gasp yes solaris,stability at its finest). I never associated my apple with Asimov, and never will. But probbably some geeks over at apple gave it the name to pay homage to a great man.
Point is that Apple had nothing to do with inspiring this company. Shameless apple plug.
man, messing with the Asimov the day after christmas. it just aint right.
Puto
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised
The Predator UAV is nothing but a big radio controlled aircraft - it takes two human operators to fly and use the system. There are UAV's that are truly robots (Global Hawk for one)http://www.af.mil/news/factsheets/global.html
but in the context of this Slashdot story Predator is completely irrelevant and incorrect.
Seems like the problem is that the original writer failed to account for the ignorance of some readers.
FWIW, Predator is not a guided rocket. Predator is a semi-automous robotic aircraft. Predator is slow, low-powered, and with the ability to stay airborne a long time. Predator was designed as a flying robotic observation platform. Predator was retrofitted with the ability to deliver Hellfire missiles. Thus a robotic reconnaisance device became an offensive weapon. Beginning to see the connection? Whether the MIT robots can be armed, I could not guess. However the notion that an otherwise harmless sensor platform can become dangerous is not that much of a stretch. So if you see one of them dragging a bag of fertilizer, pay attention...
I got one for my wife for Christmas. Here are some observations:
1. If you have carpets with tassles (throw rugs) you have to fold them under the carpet. Just like regular vac's that chew up the string, the roomba will also eat them.
2. Cords. You have to make sure you have them nicely tucked away.
3. You still have to pick up the junk on the floors - clothes, rocks, toys, spare parts, etc, just like you would do when (if) you sweep up otherwise. It's a nice trade off though, just pick up then turn it on.
4. We only have wood floors with area carpets, no deep pile. I don't know how well it would work on deeper pile.
My sig left me for a younger user id.
are you ready for it? Xmas. That isn't an X, it's a "chi," the Greek letter, which happens to stand for "Kristo." Xmas predates the use of Christmas by a goodly margin.
KFG
The article specifically says that the company was founded in 1990, and was based off the Asimov book.
If you all think to 1990, Apple didn't have any 'i' products. I mean, the Mac II line was the top of the crop back then. [68030, in the IIfx]. You don't get to any 'i' products until after you go through the 68040 [Centris, Quadra, Performa (3 digit)] lines, the 60x series [PowerMac, Performa (4 digit)]. Nothing was named with an 'i' until 1998, with the first iMac, which was almost a year after the first (beige) G3.
So, I'd have to say that there is no possible way that the name 'iRobot' has anything to do with apple, and that the original contributor of the story (although the story was very interesting), was just confused on the whole matter.
Build it, and they will come^Hplain.
I bought one a couple of months ago. I live in a loft with 2 cats. Here are some of my observations:
- It does really well with cat hair and dirt/dust, but it doesn't scrub the floor. So if you have dried mud, it just goes over it.
- I've already had to disassemble it a couple of times to clean out the cat hair and strings that get wrapped around the various rollers. It's not a huge problem, and I actually like digging through the machine.
- I must get the rapid charger. Charging for 12 hours for 90 minutes is not fun. Having a spare battery and a charging doc would be a nice addition.
- My cats were freaked out at first, but they've come to accept it. They causally walk around it while it's going.
- It not silent. It is a vacuum, and it sounds like one.
- The debris cup could be a little bigger.
- It has a tendancy to smite my enemies, and reward my allies.
--
No electrons were harmed in this post.
Our living room/dining room/kitchen/foyer is all open, so it's more like an XL size room. After running the Roomba twice on L setting, it covered almost everything. It looks like one or twice a week will keep the whole area in good shape. I've had it get caught on the fringe of a small throw rug that I forgot to pick up, and the sinning wall sensor brushes got tangled together with hair once. Other than that, it's been problem free. Before turning it on, i get the PS2 and laptop cords off the floor, and set some smaller items on other furniture. Stuff you'd do when using a big vacuum too...
As mentioned above, the charging time is the only significant negative I've found. I'll have to search for the quick charger someone mentioned. On a full charge, it'll do about one L and one M room.
we were a little skeptical about the roomba irobot vacuum, but-- after it cleaned our place and performed great.
http://www.insomedia.com/roomba/