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!"

Comments

does it go to the recharger when low on juice?

[kaltkalt]

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.

Re:does it go to the recharger when low on juice?

[allanj]

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.

Are you seriously saying that not having to actually vacuum, but merely recharge and empty the thing, is worthless? The actual vacuuming is by far the most timeconsuming part of cleaning the floors.

Have you heard of the law of diminishing returns? One interpretation says that solving most of the problem is easy (and cheap), but solving the entire problem is hard (and costly). I'm pretty sure that devices such as you've required does exist (other posters refer to such units, but I have not seen specific links yet), but it probably costs WAAAY more than the lowly Roomba. Not to mention the fact that devices with more advanced capabilities - such as those mentioned by you - are more likely to fail because of unexpected situations that the developers were not given enough time to properly deal with.

Durability of Roomba?

[Channard]

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?