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Roomba Robot Vacuum Gets Siblings
Victor Tramp writes "Apparently, the cute little robot vacuum by iRobot has siblings now! An article over at Forbes.com goes into some detail about the new Roomba models; featuring the Roomba Pro, which 'is an improvement on the original Roomba, including an intelligent navigation system..', and the Roomba Pro Elite, which is the '...new flagship model. It comes with a remote-control unit that lets you navigate the Roomba around the room, changing cleaning options as it goes.' I have one of the original Roombas, and it actually does a really good job!"
Now it would be cool that if you had some of these roming free in an office building and they communicated about what they had done the you could just havea small pack of the robots constatnly cleaning
Some sort of redundant bug system
Rus
Cheap UK and US VPS
I still need one that can go up and down stairs, and clean behind my servers on the floor.
...really sucks!! :)
Ahh shit the vacuum got the cat again.
The Roomba may do a good job cleaning, but I'm sure it doesn't look very good in a little french maid outfit....um..unless you have a robot fetish or something, I guess.
As in: A) pigsty clean B) litttered C) neat D) dustfree
...but does it run Linux??
Can you imagine a beowulf cluster of autonomous vacuum robots?
In Soviet Russia, the robot sucks YOU! (Insert Leslie Nielsen Naked Gun "Swedish Sure-Grip Suck Machine" quote here)
--
Rate Naked People at Fuck Meter! (not work-safe)
If Microsoft made a vacuum cleaner, it'd be their only product which would not suck...
Trolling using another account since 2005.
I'm interested in a Roomba, but it's still a bit pricey I think, and I'm not sure how well it would work on a short carpet. Buying it would be a no-brainer for a hardwood floor or other flat flooring.
Maybe I'll pick up a used one on Ebay or something to play with and see how it works.
N.
"Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence." - Charles de Gaulle
- It can lurk in the dark corners at night and photograph burglars using its infrared lights.
- It can monitor the light levels and tell the lights to brighten or dim accordingly.
- I can surf to it (of course it has wifi and an IP address) and if we get two of them, we can play "robowars" in the hallway.
- The camera can rotate upwards and
"Just cleaning the floor, boss!"
Ceci n'est pas une signature
if it doesn't automatically move over to the re-charging unit when it's running low on power, self-recharge, and then automatically start cleaning again when fully charged, it's worthless IMO.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
Hopefully the Super Roomba Pro Elite 300 Deluxe will have suckers on its wheels, so it can also climb up walls and suck the bugs of my ceiling. Otherwise, I'll stick with a regular vacuum cleaner.
If I seem short sighted, it is because I stand on the shoulders of midgets
[...] but it's still a bit pricey [...]
I thought so, too - at first. But the article mentions that the Pro Elite (the 'flagship', other models might be even cheaper) will sell at $250. And that is - to my mind - an acceptable price. A good vacuum cleaner won't be much cheaper.
I really have to start thinking about getting one. Earlier models sold for several hundred or even thousand dollar. A test would be nice though, because my robo would have to deal with 2 cats (bonus points for hovering up to the sofa and cleaning all the hairs off it)...
My cats ate my karma. They also wrote this comment.
Apparently, the cute little robot vacuum by iRobot has siblings now!
I knew these things were intelligent and all, but procreating robots!!!
Cute, my foot!! Anyone knows how to neuter them thingies ?
.ACMD setaloiv siht gnidaeR
Didnt anyone learn anything by watching The Animatrix DVD Part 1 and 2.
. . . about this robot, and since he is single, he said that this would be the perfect product for any single guy. Until he found out that it is powered on only 30 wats. Then he found out that it probably don't suck that well. :-)
This message has been ROT-13 encrypted twice for higher security.
I think it would be more interesting if they could manage to recharge themselves. All I would have to do is keep the floor clear enough. Then, just program a time when you are always away, and automated vacuuming.
.. am creeped out by the idea of sentient cleaner robots running around, ever since I saw the 'Paradise Towers' episode of Dr Who where the robots took to cleaning up humans. It's a short step from cleaner robots to plasma gun toting Terminators. Honest (adjusts tin foil hat)
Whatever happened to the Dyson DC06? That was the first robot vacuum I've seen presented and it seemed to have the most intelligence. They don't seem to have sold very many though. Maybe the price put people off.
"Taligent is still pure vapor. Maybe they'll be the last who jumps up on Openstep... "
I'm currently working on a project to mount my handheld vacuum cleaner on top of a robot made with my Lego Mindstorms set. You can program the bot yourself, add some extra intelligence. I'm pretty sure I'll have a robot vacuuming my floors pretty soon, without having to spend the $200 on it. And as an extra, it's great fun building and programming one!
--- Sigmentation Fault - Comments Dumped
So why I have to buy a virtual wall unit, or a remote control unit ? What is that damned Pro, Elite, Fanatic, Zealot models ?
This just selling same thing, for more bucks....
Wanna upgrade this one.
Add auto dump system. Perhaps adding Wifi system to attach this lidle rat into home wifi network for improve guidenance using some kind of home planning program.
Uh no. This upgrades makes this robot too useful !!! But this is Capitalism, before the reach of this usability you have to sell 5 more versions to profit enough.
[My english is better than most other people's Turkish, so please point out mistakes politely. Thank you.]
The Swedish house appliance manufacturer Electrolux has a model called Trilobite which has been around for a couple of years.
I haven't seen this sucker in action, but if memory serves me correctly it should be able to move around your home on flat surfaces, avoid obstacles and return to the power station.
Yes. Check your Roomba's bag.
They all suck.
(*ducks to avoid flying objects*)
... mod the damn thing to blow instead of suck ie. roboblow. Would make a convenient lazy-boy to fetch drinks, crips etc - all controlled by the remote.
... but a minor details.
Of course you'd need someone to load the beer/coffee onto it
...I could manage to keep our floor uncluttered enough for these to be useful. (In which case I wouldn't need them because it wouldn't be too hard to do it myself.)
One thing occurs to me regards the Roomba - just how well does it stand up to kids? It sounds like a great invention but knowing how much stress kids can put on pieces of equipment. Especially equipment that might attract their attention by moving around of its own accord? Clearly it can't be expected to withstand Little Billy pushing it downstairs just to see what would happen, but can the Roomba's withstand bumps and knocks?
http://www.megapool.nl/site/modules/showhtml.asp?s trCondition=a&intGroepID=557
From Karcher, site is in Dutch. Mod me up, this thing is much cooler than a Roomba.
I prefer the Karcher RoboCleaner for one important reason:
It requires almost no manual intervention
You just tell it how often it should go out and clean and once in a while you empty the dirt in the base station. No other interventions are necessary.
Il empties its dirt container itself and recharges itself automatically et the base station.
Details here
Markus
Trilobite
Trilobite
Who needs a Roomba, the RoboSweep is all I need to keep my place clean... Now why are there squirrels rummaging in my clothing pile?
Business \Busi"ness\, n.;
A scam in which all people involved perceive as beneficial...
...but in a good way!
I bought a Rooma a couple of weeks ago after the last article that mentioned about the cheap (money-wise and quality-wise) competitor. We have two cats, two dogs, and hardwood floors. We "set it free" each morning as we go out to work. We didn't do it yesterday, and I noticed it as I was lying on the floor...sand and hair. It really does a good job for us.
As far as having the ability to go back and recharge itself when it's done...yeah, it'd be nice, but it works fine for us how it is. Otherwise, we (i.e. my wife) would have to be dragging out the regular vaccuum every day. It does great in terms of just maintaining a sane level of cleanliness.
I can see a future of fleets of these things roaming a hotel cleaning all of the rooms. Sort of reminds me of the robots from Minority Report.
From the Italian company Zucchetti, check the models listed on the left of this page. The page is in Italian but there are also some illustrated .pdf files available.
..where's the robot to pat you on the back when you choke on a cherry pip.
You fool! You've given cheese to a lactose intolerant volcano god! Do you know what that means?
Next match on battlebots! A $200 vacuum versus a $2000 dog? Let's place your bet!
Compare its wussy suction to that of a 12 amp vacuum. Lots of crap stays in the carpet. After a while the crud becomes permanently locked in your carpert (ie, you carpet ages faster). Roomba is nice but they need to make it as powerful as the 12 amp vacuums.
How does a circle shaped robot with a smaller circle shaped vaccuuming area get to clean in corners ?
Are there infinitely smaller versions that specialise in corners to finish off the job ?
With so many robotics stories lately (Japan's Proposed 30-Year Robot Program, Robots for Air Force Protection, Swimming Cockroach Robot Developed, etc.), it's time that Slashdot made up a new category as opposed to filing them under "Upgrades".
I'm used to my computers going obsolete while still in transit from the seller, but my vacuum cleaner??? I just bought a "standard" model Roomba last week!
Dammit.
Looking for a Rails developer in Chapel Hill?
Actually, iRobot does use Linux in their higher-end robots.
...like the robot I have, which patrols the house tirelessly cleaning up all the food the kids drop. It is self-recharging, and can resist any amount of abuse the kids dish out. It will even retrieve certain items for me, and doubles as a securioty system. Best of all, it was free! On the down side, she does get hair on the couch, but what can you expect from a Golden Retriever?
Not really - The Terminator and HKs in The Terminator themselves were esentially robots, albeit with an organic covering some cases. And Skynet became self aware on its own. The Daleks on the other hand had a living brain as an essential organic component without which it could not function. And clearly the Roomba would have no way of aquiring such organic materi... hey, anyone seen the cat?
Yes I am lazy, but I'm not that lazy!
Seriously though, I only have a 45 m2 flat, so one of these would be perfect, and I like the Trilobite and the Karcher. But for the money I'd spend I'd really expect them to be much more intelligent.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
"It's not getting, under around the smaller, shorter table there. It's not getting up around the edges of the walls and the legs of even the table it keeps going under. It doesn't have enough suction."
b a. html
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/news/073103_TS_room
I certainly wish iRobot the best of luck with the Roomba, since success with this early model will lead to continuously improved products. I am certainly not against robotic appliances, I also have a Robomower and love it. It has many advantages over a manual mower and no drawbacks (except a bit higher price tag, but the benefits far outweigh this IMHO). It's very quit (I can run it at night), nearly maintenance free (it mulches while it cuts, no bag to empty, no engine to maintain), and completely replaces a standard mower. I long for the day when we have more products like this, but I just didn't think the first gen Roomba was it.
When you lose something irreplaceable, you don't mourn for the thing you lost, you mourn for yourself. - Harpo Marx
I just bought one when the original Roomba story ran a few weeks ago. Maybe I'm still within the 30 days return period!
It is an amazing machine. It does quite well for not actively remembering where it has gone or really knowing the layout of the room. Worth the $200 for the original and DEFINATELY going to be worth the extra $50 for the Elite.
And who doesn't want to have something that's called "Elite"?
Run out and get one, only after I've got mine....
-m
http://www.invisik.com
Outside of the extra virtual wall I really see nothing here but standard marketing proceure. change the color and call it enhanced, ohh yea and charge more. I want to see some improvements, not just colors and exta flashing lights.
Seems that there are at least four of these robot vacuum cleaners... Who do we get to test them head-to-head?
Unfortunately, I can't help but be reminded of the fate of the dog in Ray Bradbury's short story "There Will Come Soft Rains" whenever I read reports about the Roomba.
Two-fifteen.
The dog was gone.
(shiver)
Thanks to high school English class, I may never own a Roomba. Ever.
Several years ago I worked at the JC Penney corporate offices in Texas. At the time the building was new, and one of the cool gadgets they had were mail robots. They would load up the robots with mail, the robot would roll to the elevator, call the elevator, and then follow a special strip in the carpet of each floor, stopping every so often to deliver mail.
Well, about a week into this people started complaining about the elevators being extremely slow, like a 5 minute or more wait. Turned out that the mail robots were fighting over the elevators: if there was a robot on 3, and one in the basement, and both called the elevator at the same time, the elevator would get stuck.
Actually, this is not at all similar, now that I think about it.
With Roomba you can always go into another room, or leave the house entirely for complete quiet while Roomba cleans. (Web FAQ) (Emphasis Mine)
This is good general advice you can use to handle any noisy problem in the home (spouse, dog, etc.), not just the Roomba.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
Arrr. I'll gets me an Off-Road, GPS enabled metal detecting roomba. let them loose on the wild shores of the Carribian and rake in the doubloons.Aye, Matey! ARR...
How about one that wipes my ass for me? One that wipes the rim of the toilet for me would make my wife happy. One to take the garbage out too, I hate taking garbage out, and Roomba will not suck it up when the pile gets too high.
"Sheep just follow the easiest path and run from scary noises and intimidating creatures." - Me
would complete my basic homecare requirements (http://www.usa.husqvarna.com/Folder_263/node563.a sp?id=4)
I got the RoboSweep, which is kind of like the retarded cousin that your family doesn't talk about.
FYI it's called the Trilobite
The Trilobite has actually been around since 1997 and been through numerous successively improved versions.
Now I'm seeing an improved version, one that's smart enough *NOT* to tumble down the stairs without having to set up magnetic tape boundaries on the floor, for only $250 US???
I know that technology prices can fall, but this sort of price drop in that short a time is beyond credibility. My "if it sounds too good to be true then it is" alert meter has just gone into the red.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned this, unless its just much bigger in person than it looks online... maybe we have a weird household, but, with two golden retrievers, we have ALOT of dog hair, and just vacuuming with a regular vacuum it fills up the vacuum bag/bagless container real quick. This thing looks like it has a thimble for a container for the dirt. It might be good for an apartment or a house with no kids/pets, but, with any kids or pets where your getting alot of dirt and otherwise in the house, I'd think you'd need a bigger compartment (otherwise your following it around anyway's the whole time to empty it).
We got a Roomba last December, and it took a little while to get our 1st floor completely "roomba-ready". All the kid's toys get thrown in baskets, I pick up a tassled rug and throw it over a radiator, and I use a virtual wall unit to block a threshold that the Roomba *always* gets stuck on (even though it's below the advertised limit). Now, after dinner, we get our entire 1st floor roomba-ready (pick up toys, move chairs, etc.), and all go upstairs for the kid's baths + stories + bedtime. By the time the kid's are in bed, the Roomba's done (45-60 minutes or so). We still have to vacume every other week or so, but the Roomba keeps the floors cleaner between manual cleaning. Sure, I could sweep every night, but the Roomba does it while I'm doing something else. I figure it saves me 10-15 minutes each day, which is great for those of us with small children. So in the past year, I figure the Roomba has saved me 60-90 hours of free time, which translates to about $2-3/hour. If the thing lasts another year without any maintenance costs, then we're talking about $1-1.50/hour. Would I spend a dollar for an extra hour of free time? (I guess I already do!)
It's gotten to the point where my 3-year-old daughter can pick it up, put it in the middle of the floor, and turn it on by herself.
I really want one but if it doesn't go back into its charger on its own, you lose alot of efficiency from the whole idea.
After almost 50 years of research into artificial intelligence what do we have to show for it? A vacuum that can do a random walk. How pathetic. The average set of automobile brakes has more brains than Roomba. For anyone who has seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, the future was supposed to be more interesting than this.
an ill wind that blows no good
Does it have a warranty that covers pet-inflicted damage? I imagine that if I didn't keep a constant eye on this thing, my dog would tear it up. It's the ultimate dog toy!
You can have my one-button mouse when you pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
...all of this Roomba jiggery-pokery is fine, but when it comes to intelligent floor cleaning, nothing beats the RoboSweep.
Tierce
Tierce
Who sponsors your feelings?
An automated floor cleaner was described in some detail in Heinlein novel
- The Door into Summer
Compared to Heinlien's idea, the Roomba is missingAuto return to charging station
auto emptying of dust container
Avoidance of occupied rooms
A claw to pick up small, potentially valuable items [change, jewlery] before being sucked into the vacumn
The claw would be the most difficult to implement [image recognition, design and manipulation of the claw]
Wet cleaning [spray & squegee] would be nice too, matching the capabilites listed in the book.
Caution: Do not stare into laser with remaining eye.
We picked up an original Roomba a couple of weeks ago in an Amazon Gold Box special. I shoulda known they'd come out with new models...but we still got a good deal.
Anyway, we have hardwood floors with oriental rugs. The Roomba does great on the rugs, and on the floor, but at the interface it chokes.
First, you have to tuck the fringe under the edge of the rugs because the Roomba's rollers will grab them. Fair enough; you have to be careful with a regular vacuum anyway.
But, our oriental rugs are fairly thick, and we have a foam pad under them which makes them even thicker, so when the Roomba goes from floor to rug, half the time it bounces off instead of climbing up onto the rug.
Worse yet, there's an 8" gap between the rug and the couch, and the roomba goes into that trench and has serious problems getting out.
Having said that, using the Roomba in places that it's better suited to is awesome -- set it up, go shopping, come back, and the floor's spotless. It rocks.
Ok, well maybe thats not true, but I do have an important question to ask those that own one of these Robo Vacs (whatever they're called) How well do they get along with cats? I currently have a little 1 floor condo that I think this would work well on, but I wouldn't want my cat to get eaten by it well I was away. As well as I wouldn't want my cat to kill $250 worth of gears on my carpet. Any ideas, comments, true stories?
Ave Molech Setting
Linen 'n Things has the iRobot Roomba automatic Vacuum cleaner for $199.99 - 20% off code:
647500000002 = $160 shipped free by Fedex. Item 336943
www.lnt.com = Linen n things
Yesterday, I read about these Roomba things and decided I'd only buy one if they were cuter. Here's a Photoshopped version of what I want.
The only real issue I have with my Roomba is that I can't sit in the living room while Roomba is vacuuming it and expect to have an Internet wireless connection. Roomba creates enough interference to bring my connection down. On the other side, it is the first time in my life that the spaces under the bed and couch are being vacuumed on a regular basis. Yes, the recharging is a pain in the butt, and I guess a good reason to buy another one (as I usually remember to vacuum the day that I need the house too look clean, and roomba gives up too quickly :(
...As "Robot woman gets offspring."
I really need to sleep.
One is Electorlux's model, selling for ~1000-2000 $, i think, the other is Roomba, with 200/230/250 for Roomba/Roomba Pro/Roomba Pro Elite, made by iRobot.