Slashdot Mirror
Roomba Competitor Slightly Lacking
tivojafa writes "Following hot on the heels of the Roomba vacuum cleaner, TV Products (USA) Inc have released the "RoboSweep" - "The intelligent sweeper that sweeps while you rest!".
Roomba by iRobot is an engineering masterpiece with 15 sensors and 5 motors to navigate and clean the floors. It has been stripped apart and there are rumors of a replacement processor so it can be used as a general purpose robot platform. Now the RoboSweep "intelligent" sweeper has redefined intelligence (or lack of it) - the internals have got to be seen to be believed." Very funny.
First they're cleaning carpets of dirt, next they'll be cleaning Earth of humans!
Now that's what I call quality engineering. And I love the analog 'processor'!
One motor.
One battery tray.
One switch.
One power socket.
One LED.
A few wires.
soo... who's going to be the first to get linux running on it?
Here is an idea for an ask slashdot thread:
"Have you ever bought anything off an infomercial and been happy with it?"
I cannot see why you would sell anything that way if it would sell in normal outlets.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Probably not in this case though. :-P
"Let your heart soar as high as it will. Refuse to be average." - A. W. Tozer
I had a toy like this when I was a kid. I think we bought it at a flea market for like $15... although it didn't pretend to clean floors, it had a much cooler action robot head that moved its arms!
I seem to remember having a toy car as a kid that worked much the same way.
There are, however, a few key differences:
RoboSweep is
- more expensive
- slower
- less fun
And with almost no innards, it's not even fun to bash to pieces, Office Space style!
Be very careful when you see that "As Seen On TV!" logo.
About 15 years ago you could get "robots" that were EXACTLY the same as this - all they've done is stuck a few bits of Velcro on the bottom! Great injection moulded case too - very faux-sophisticated.
I think my childhood toy cost about $10...
sig:- (wit >= sarcasm)
The site was incredibly slow with no comments, so I figured I'd mirror it for a day here.
:P
Please be nice to it
--
http://nemilar.net - Not your grandmother's soup kitchen
That has to be the saddest attempt at making a competing product. It uses nothing besides some gears to move around obstacles (no circuitry), uses wipes to clean floor (which don't work well according to website author, says it barely picks up dirt and it only does on the front of wipe), moves slowly, and obviously can't clean anything besides smooth surfaces. Is there a lamest products ever list? This really deserves it.
Question everything.
Well if you can't read the article, it basically says this robosweep thing is a piece of crap. It contains no electronics other then its motor (which apparently has barely enough power to drive the thing) and it works by mechanically shifting gears when it hits a wall so that it can turn. This in an of itself is not so terrible, but according the article the "robot" also doesn't have enough ground clearence for dirt to pass underneath so instead of actually picking up dirt it just pushes it around.
Btw, if you take a look at the link to the ad you'll see some kind of dislcaimer at the bottom explaining how the Roomba is a registered trademark of iRobot and that the RoboSweep thing is not made or endorsed by iRobot. I though this was interesting since no where on thir page do they mention the Roomba except for in this disclaimer. I guess their product is so terrible they afraid of being accused of trying to make iRobot look bad.
I wonder if the guy who designed that was a shyster or just an old-timer engineer who actually throught he could replace the ai with a differential...
"RoboSweep uses artificial intelligence to sweep your entire floor."
yes. yes it does.
MARIJUANA, SHROOMS, X: ONLINE?! - E
I overclocked it and now it can clean my whole apartment in under 15 seconds. Of course I have to liquid cool it to keep the motors from melting.
JET Program: see Japan, meet intere
Has anyone ever actually expected quality out of a product that has a "As Seen On TV!" sticker on it?
Libertarians somehow believe that private businesses should be stronger than governments but weaker than individuals.
Wait a sec...roomba "community"?
I thought the idea was to give you more free time to do fun things. It's pretty sad these people are using that time to sit around in front of the computer and participate in some...pointless...foru...
[marblehead moment]
Ahhhh nuts.
PS:Obligatory slashdotting joke! That community site clogged up faster than a roomba in the wrong part of Dustbunnyville.
Please help metamoderate.
The Roomba isn't very good. We have one in the Team Overbot shop, and it's cute, but not very useful. It gets trapped in chair legs, it jams badly if it encounters a cable, and it doesn't clean very well. Even as insect-level intelligence, it's disappointing. It needs at least enough smarts to get itself out of the situations it gets into. As it is, it takes more time dealing with its problems than it takes to vacuum the space with a conventional vacuum.
so I assume the robosweep, if it got to some stairs, would fall down them unlike the roomba which will stop and turn around. That would be pretty funny t watch and seeing how it's built it would probably break apart then too.
at least they do what they are designed to do!
If I drive fast enough at the red light, it'll appear green.
This thing would probably make life unbearable with the noise of the vacuum sucking up the dirt on the ground.
Why do I get the idea that I would end up just watching this thing clean my floor instead of enjoying my life. It would seem to me that getting off my lazy bottom and cleaning the floor myself would be a better way to appreciate the fact that I can move around than whatever it is these people think I should be doing.
Also, if this thing takes away all the crumbs and skin that accumulate on the floor - which in turn provide nourishment for a multitude of life - wouldn't this machine be destroying the very life you are trying to enjoy? ;)
http://suspended.net/robosweep/robosweep.html One of the images is missing, but better than nothing...
This will beat the FloorSweeper like a red-headed stepchild. Shizzle me Timbers!.
I dunno if it's a chain or my local mall is just 'lucky', but we have a store called "As Seen On TV" full of all the crap that by all rights shouldn't sell to anyone with sufficient IQ to navigate from their couch to the mall.
eh..eh?
Anyone else reminded of the Precious Roy sketches from "Sifl and Olly" ?
Precious Roy, Precious Roy
Making lots of suckers out of girls and boys!
Suckers!
Are the makers of RoboCrap/Sweep going to sue under the DCMA, claiming that this dude reverse engineered the robot?
Replacing the NiCad batteries with LiIon would up the run time significantly.
Turning your kitchen floor into a maze of diverters so that it cleans the entire floor (instead of just the edges) would be a worthy weekend project.
A simple IR emitter-detector could cut power to the motor when something is in front of it.
Or, you could put an old i386 motherboard and wireless ethernet inside, and have a firewall and clean floors at the same time.
You could slam it, and have a low-rider cleaner. Wait, they already did that.
I was at a lecture Rodney Brooks gave when he was in Amsterdam almost a year ago. He explained what kind of research he did, and how he incorporated it in his Roomba product.
;-)
Obviously, this RoboSweep thing is a complete fake. It looks like it's advertised on those stupid home shopping programmes (see the official website, the "As Seen On TV" blurb on the packaging, etc).
This leads me to reinforce my suspicion that all products promoted at home shopping programmes are fake and ineffective.
I don't doubt most Slashdotters are like-minded in this respect, but those who know people who order that crap, might want to tell them about the fake cleaning machine, and how that is probably only the tip of the iceberg (crap-berg?).
It actually reminds me of a toy car I used to play with in my youth, that had exactly such a rotating thing with small wheels on it, so the battery-powered car seemed to move in a semi-random fashion. I didn't find that very intruiging even at the age of five.
If you really want to get a cleaning robot, get a Roomba.
With a bit of luck, they'll sell just eight of those RoboSweeps -- to Dr. Zoidberg!
I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
All you have to do is program it to say "What?", "I don't understand," and "Where's the tea?" and who'd know the difference?
Just curious... I'd like to hear opinions from people who aren't on Roomba's website.
Before I buy one, I want to know if it will keep up with my two-year old. I envision some kind of evolutionary arms race between my daughter and the Roomba, where the Roomba gets smarter and bigger and my daughter finds new and messier ways to screw up the living room carpet.
Eventually the Roomba will evolve into SkyNet and a former California governor will travel back in time to shoot me.
3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
Um... does anyone else feel a bit confused, dare I say scared, by a music-playing vacuum cleaner?
Dunno... maybe it's just me.
Shares in As Seen On TV fell $12.37 to $1.12 as investors reacted to a poll showing that every American over the age of 18 has been screwed over at least once by idiotic late-night TV pitches, according to an Ipsos-Reid survey.
Including the investors.
Only 10% of the populace is reported to be stupid enough to purchase off of TV again. Strangely, most of the 10% is made up of Americans with double barreled names, such as Peggy-Anne, Donny-Joe or Birdman-Sue.
Cledus the Slack-Jawed Yokel was not available for comment.
robots.txt keeps the spiders away
-Docvert converts MSWord to OpenDocument, clean HTML
But even 1950s tech was ahead of the Robosweep. It did have a single light sensor, and through some clever work by Davis, could be constructed so that when their batteries started to run low, would make their way back to a recharging hut, given that the hut had a bright light in it.
If the robosweep could accomplish as much without any central processor (lack of central processing is, after all, one of the tenets of Brooks subsumption architecture, and thus part of the design of the Roomba), I'm sure Rodney would applaud the feat.
We bought a bunch of these Miracle Blade 3 things... damn these suckers are sharp (and stay sharp, great for tough steak/cinderblocks), if you can help me find my left index finger that would help though. Very happy with the set, we even got a second one for free accidently.
we sent out 5 of these guys last week.
1st got ran over by an SUV, them sons of bitches
2nd batteries ran out
3rd ran into bad weather
4th one was lost
5th one is still going strong, it things go well we hope it will make it to the end of the block by tomorrow.
I had toy cars as a kid that did this. It'd roll untill it hit something then turn and roll again. I had no idea that I was using state of the art artificial intelligence way back then! Wow!
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
that if all products like RoboSweep, Tap lights, Thigh Masters, electronic inset repellers, Clappers, Buttoneers, Mr. Microphones, OxyClean, Ginsu Knives, and anything else that's advertized on TV after 2 a.m. were assembled into ONE GIANT MACHINE we would have... either a black hole that only sucks in money or the first device suitable for sanctioning spammers. Spammers mercilessly tortured while you rest! Sound effects optional...Canadians add one dollar!
well, that roombacommunity site rocks, while i do enjoy my roomba, it's now going to be made in to a robot and do something else, i'm thinking a wifi-finder, we'll see. here are some pics and vid, next time i post pics, it'll be a franken-roomba. enjoy.
pics
video
cheers,
pt
Pics here. It's kind of slow. Being slashdotted is not a good way to discover that your ISP does bandwidth limiting :-(.
Once the vacuuming brushes are removed the Roomba is much quieter and I am sure that battery life at least doubles. Chris.
mine also does dishes(prewash), and disguises itself as a throw rug when not in use. Sometimes, during program misbahavior, it takes out the garbage.
Doing a quick eBay search for "robosweep" returns a few listings saying: "ROOMBA ROBOSWEEP INTELLIGENT SWEEPER"
;)
Very very deceptive.....
And look at the crap description.... I almost fell off my chair laughing....
*Similar to Roomba but at a fraction of the price!
RoboSweep is a very affordably priced sweeper, especially compared to other robotic cleaners on the market..
RoboSweep uses built-in intellegence to stay in the room it's sweeping. Just turn it on and it sweeps! (Ya... sweeps your $40 away...)
Of course, at the end:
THIS IS NOT A ROOMBA! IT IS A ROBOSWEEP!
Just when I thought things were bad enough.... more searching finds some place is selling this thing for $46!!
Caveat emptor! A fool and his money are sooooo soon parted on the Internet
That jerk stole my little brothers science project! Even though he only spent 5 minutes on it, he could atleast get a D+, give it back!
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
I remember a toy from the 70s and 80s, which involved a "robot" that ran off of specially shaped cogs and gears. One would determine the distance, a couple others would determine direction (left, right, circle), another would set up a special function (stop, spin turret, flash lights and play sounds), before resuming the pattern again.
Slightly more complicated versions were made for more money, which involved a simple optical reader and a rotating paper disc which the user would mark off spots for distance, turns, etc. If I recall correctly, there were Mindstorm Lego sets that worked on this principle as well.
Why not make a version of the Roomba that does that? It's technically an analog computer, and would be cheap as hell to mass produce. A lot closer to a "real" robot than Robosweep is.
Just because you can mod me down, doesn't mean you're right. Shoes for industry!
-
The RoboSweep people should be hauled in for fraud! ;-)
I saw the pictures of its insides... and basically (from a long childhood of disassembling toy "bump n go" robots) I believe the RoboSweep is worth about $5 bucks, tops.
Do this:
1. Go into your local KayBee or Toys R Us toystore or swapmeet/fleamarket.
2. Buy one of those $5 buck "bump n go" robots/cars.
3. Dissassemble said toy
4. Note the virtually identical setup as the "RoboSweep": battery case, wires, one made-in-China 25 cent motor, little go-round-n-round wheels.
And reading the RoboSweep site http://www.youcansave.com/robosweep.asp, it promises the world out of what is basically a child's cheap-ass toy! Class action anyone?
I really don't understand the gap-jawed complaints some people are expressing. Its a fourty dollar device compared to a TWO HUNDRED dollar device. Please, lets not act too surprised.
:)
This all reminds me of the DustBuster craze in the 80s. They all plainly sucked, or failed to suck dirt, yet they sold by the millions. Even the heavy-duty Black & Deckers did little then make an annoying whine and create a weird smell.
Today, the DustBuster market is more or less dead and the ones that have survived are at Target, are a slightly more costly, are larger than the originals, and have tons more sucking power. I'm willing to bet these actually work. It took 20 years but black & decker did it
Will it take another 20 years to perfect the Roomba? Its not all raves you know. It easily gets confused when encountering wiring and cramped spaces, you know the traditional shelters of geeks worldwide.
Another thing to consider is the law of diminishing returns. $200 is a lot of money for most people and if this RobotVac works half as well it will undercut the Roomba in marketshare.
Yes, its cheesy and a cheap knock-off but then again so are most components in the PCs people are using to view this message.
Trilobyte. European tech kicks ass. Harharhar! :-)
Honestly now: If I'll ever get a vacuumbot it will be this one. This Trilobyte sucker has some serious tech inside. It actually learns the shapes of the floor it cleans and maneuvers through and past furniture. It starts at programmable time (when you're out of the house) and goes back to it's recharge station when finished. THAT is a vacubot. That other one is a toy that will chrush to chunky kibbles if I accidentally step on it. Or make that 'on purpose'.
We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
My wife and I both work and my dog sheds, this leaves both very little time for the vacuming and a very large need for vacuming. We struggled with the $200 purchase for about 6 months, but have not regretted it for 1 second since laying down the money. (Check techbargains.com, you can find it for $160 delievered).
The roomba is right for us because we always found the vacume to be a chore. If you don't feel the same way, you probably don't need a roomba. As far as performance goes, every time the thing runs it fills it's little bin. The amount of dust that it picks up is remarkable. It can easily go under our bed, when was the last time you vacumed under the bed? I totally agree with one review I found that said the fact that you have to empty the little bin is (accidental?) marketing genius. Every time we use it we are encouraged to use it again, and soon!
It doesn't do stairs, doesn't handle the corners of some throw rugs well, and doesn't handle shag at all. We have to pick up the clothes/objects/garbage before using it (the horror). I really haven't found much to be upset about.
I put it in the iPod, VW Beetle, iMac, and Tivo category. It does something well, it's not perfect, but it's really cool. I didn't think I'd ever feel this way about a vacume.