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Dyson Preparing a Roomba Killer?

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the products-that-suck dept.

An anonymous reader writes "New Scientist's technology blog reports that Dyson, the UK company that reinvented the vacuum cleaner, is recruiting robotics engineers. They're looking for people with experience of machine vision and mobile robots that create their own maps. Is Dyson hoping to take on the Roomba with a much more sophisticated machine?"

61 of 243 comments (clear)

  1. Lolz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dyson is preparing a Roomba Terminator. Dyson must be stopped!

  2. They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of years by Kris_J · · Score: 5, Informative

    It's called the DC06. This link is as good as any.

  3. yawn by User+956 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Dyson, the UK company that reinvented the vacuum cleaner

    Yeah, they re-invented it to be the BOSE of vacuum cleaners.

    --
    The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
    1. Re:yawn by onepoint · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Amazing, up to ten loads per day, I don't know how you do it. but with 9 kids I can only imagine. but to my point. you would save money on industrial washers, yes they are expensive, and a pain to install. they just don't break down. I was a partner in a laundry, and I spent time researching my competitors. they all had 1 brand for the ultra large loads ( sorry it's been a while ) and it's because it never broke and when it did, it was a 30 minute fix or less. They use less water and electricity ( based on load size ).

      also don't forget to have great venting of the dryer, that little bit of wind resistance is what kills them. In my last home, I had they dryers vent into my greenhouse, worked like a charm and the snow would melt in the winter

      --
      if you see me, smile and say hello.
    2. Re:yawn by modecx · · Score: 2

      Wow! Nine kids! God bless you.

      God bless? You mean to encourage this sort of thing?

      I am hereby amending the bible: "May God teacheth thee the great and bountiful nature of contraceptives, or alternatively, shalt thou be not willing to learn, may God graciously spay or neuter thee in a most painful and bloody way."

      --
      Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
  4. Map creation by SEWilco · · Score: 4, Funny

    By "create their own maps" they mean they'll drop build a sphere and drop all the unwanted stuff inside, making the sphere larger when necessary. Eventually it will have its own landscape inside and enclose the Sun in the process.

  5. Hope it's better than the dyson... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    Everyone I know who bought a dyson regretted it. They were shoddy pieces of kit, incredibly shoddy when you consider the price.

    Most vacuum cleaners will handle whatever you throw at them, our Henry has coped with brick dust, dog hair, dust, fluff, and being pulled and banged around the house all over the place. I know people who just use their dysons for occasional use who've had the wheels fall off the things.

    Dyson's are a great idea, but I wouldn't buy one unless I hear they've worked out how robust comsumer devices nead to be.

    1. Re:Hope it's better than the dyson... by moggie_xev · · Score: 3, Interesting
      OK I have had a Dyson for 12 years.

      The first one died after 26 months they fixed it for free, when it was out of the 2 year warranty

      I have recently bought a second one when one of the bits fell off after another 9 years.

      They are solid vac's that can pick up my wife's long hair from the carpet.

    2. Re:Hope it's better than the dyson... by badfish99 · · Score: 5, Informative

      If you look around, you'll notice that Henry cleaners are used by professionals in places like offices and hotels. The ones you buy in the retail shop are basically industrial-quality cleaners with an amusing face and will stand a considerable amount of abuse.

      Dysons are designed to look pretty, and are heavily advertised. They are then built cheaply in the Far East. Suprisingly, they are a lot more expensive than the sturdier professional machines: I suppose a lot of money goes into advertising (or into Dyson's pocket).

    3. Re:Hope it's better than the dyson... by fabs64 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Solid? My parents have had the same vacuum cleaner, in a very big house with 3 kids for 23 years.
      It's not even really any more awkward than a new vacuum cleaner, and seems to pick up dust fine.
      But oh noes! It has a paper bag to replace every few months! :S

  6. Backpack Vacuum Cleaner by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The people who clean my office walk around with a vacuum cleaner on their back and a cord trailing behind. I wonder if this will ever catch on for household use. It's surely a lot more practical than dragging the vacuum cleaner along behind you.

    --
    How we know is more important than what we know.
    1. Re:Backpack Vacuum Cleaner by JustinianV · · Score: 3, Informative

      Occasionally, I am one of those people, though not at your office. Backpack Vacuums are great for upholstery and even very dusty hard surfaces. They are ill suited for cleaning carpeted floors very well, though, because they are essentially just canister vacuums, they just suck, they don't have brushes to really pick up the dust. But they are rather comfortable to use, especially with waist and chest straps. Schools often use them because it is easier to use that to get around desks than a traditional upright.

      I work for a large church with lots of big carpeted areas, and for that we use an NSS Pacer 30, which is a 30 inch vacuum that is like a lawnmower to use, but VERY effective. In smaller areas we use NSS Pacer 218 uprights which are 18" wide and do a good job, but whenever we can we like to use the 30 incher, just because it will leave a carpet practically spotless.

  7. The Real Roomba Killer by asolipsist · · Score: 5, Funny

    Stairs

    1. Re:The Real Roomba Killer by Das+Modell · · Score: 3, Funny

      The Roomba is protected, the Roomba has gone down the stairs.

    2. Re:The Real Roomba Killer by clickety6 · · Score: 3, Funny


      Hmmm.. time to patent my roomba/slinky hybrid...

      --
      ----------------------------------- My Other Sig Is Hilarious -----------------------------------
    3. Re:The Real Roomba Killer by orkysoft · · Score: 2, Funny

      Won't it just level the building?

      --

      I suffer from attention surplus disorder.
  8. A sphere? by hedgemage · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm, would the Dyson model be a massive sphere built around a star that would allow the entire inner surface to be vacuumed?

  9. When it comes to robots... by Bo'Bob'O · · Score: 2, Funny

    We might want to re-think our use of the verb 'killer' ..

    I mean not that it's bad, just, rather disappointing when you realize the poster didn't mean a battle bots style show down in my living room!

  10. ooh! by grrrl · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I LOVE my Dyson, especially the turbo-brush head attachment. A Roomba-esque Dyson with a turbo-brush would be awesome - not sure how much my cat would like it though, given her hatred of the standard Dyson.

    Do current Roombas pick up pet hair well? And do pets like them? No-one I know owns a Roomba, they haven't really taken off here in Australia AFAIK...

    1. Re:ooh! by JaredOfEuropa · · Score: 4, Informative

      Do current Roombas pick up pet hair well? And do pets like them?
      I have wall to wall carpets and two rather fluffy cats; not a good combination. I really need to vacuum two times a week or the place already starts to look messy.

      That's where the Roomba comes in handy. It does an excellent job of dealing with cat hair on carpet, about as well as my Miele manual vacuum. I set it off twice a week to keep the place looking tidy. I do have the "advantage" of living in a smallish 3 room apartment so a single Roomba does me fine.

      The cats don't mind the Roomba too much. One of them will just move to another room. The other will stay in the room, studiously ignoring the Roomba until it crosses her path, then she'll step out of the way giving the poor Roomba an annoyed, disdainful look.
      --
      If construction was anything like programming, an incorrectly fitted lock would bring down the entire building...
    2. Re:ooh! by myowntrueself · · Score: 2, Funny

      then she'll step out of the way giving the poor Roomba an annoyed, disdainful look

      Do cats ever give anything *but* annoyed, distainful looks?

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  11. Try Vacuum'ing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Ask a programmer about programming not a consumer magazine. I have to do the vacuuming in my house (working wife), Dyson cylinder is our vacuum cleaner for the last year and I ain't switching! Before that we had the Samsung Cylinder (the clone of the Dyson) but I broke the catch that holds the cylinder in place (crappy cheap plastic), no seal means no cyclone.

    Go to your electrical shop and they don't sell bag cleaners anymore, all you see is the cyclone ones. All that BS from Hoover about how good bags are and how bad cyclone's are, has gone now that they can all make cyclone ones. The bag clogs, people who vacuum know this!

    Ask your wife, erm Girlfriend, erm that bloke on MSN Messenger that pretends to be the hot chick, what they think about vacuum cleaners before you buy one.

    1. Re:Try Vacuum'ing by asninn · · Score: 4, Informative

      If you had read the blog entry (and the update) the GP linked to, you would've noticed that noone ever said that the Dyson hoovers were bad - quite the opposite. They apparently all received "very good" ratings; what the GP was trying to point out is that

      a) The Dysons are not an order of magnitude better, as it often seems to be claimed;
      b) In fact, in all tests, there were a number of other hoovers that were *better*;
      c) In fact, those other hoovers were also *cheaper*.

      So, no, a Dyson certainly isn't bad, but you can get an even better product for a lower price if you buy from another manufacturer, as long as you care about performance than about novel looks.

      --
      butter the donkey
    2. Re:Try Vacuum'ing by MartinG · · Score: 3, Interesting

      They sell more cyclone vacuums now because that what the public have been brainwashed into demanding. If you want a real opinion, ask someone who spends most of their days vacuuming. For example, try finding an office cleaning company that uses dysons. You can't. They don't. Dyson's are not robust and not good value and not the best at what they do.

      They are however very good cleaners for your typical household, but still not the best value and arguably not the best cleaner overall.

      Dyson hoovers are one of the most succesful marketing efforts in recent times. Everyone has fallen for it. All they had to do was make a machine that was above average and then convince the world it was unique and they did it brilliantly.

      Well done to them, not on producing a brilliant cleaner, but on excelling at business and marketing.

      --
      -- MartinG To mail me: echo kewyjlcxyzvjfxbqwh | tr bcefhjklqvwxyz .@adgimnoprstu
    3. Re:Try Vacuum'ing by Alioth · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's because they will either be using some sort of 'shop vac' style machine, or a Kirby. Kirby vacuum cleaners aren't made out of plastic - they are hewn from metal (and even have 'self drive' like lawnmowers have). They are also extremely powerful. A Kirby is hugely expensive, but if you're using the thing 8 hours a day, it will pay to have one as it'll last many years.

      --
      Oolite: Elite-like game. For Mac, Linux and Windows
    4. Re:Try Vacuum'ing by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2, Informative

      Consumer Reports and others have not ranked Dyson anything more than average. I used to have other links, but that was 2 years ago when I was in the market for a new vacuum cleaner. I needed one that would clean dog hair out of the carpet without jamming the power head (3 chows produce lots of hair). The top rated vacuum for pet hair was the $500 Kenmore model. I bought it and I've been happy with everything but robustness of the powerhead. Fortunately, the 5 year extended warranty has already proven worth the $60. :)

      In the reviews I read at the time, Dyson was at or near the bottom of every review set. Rainbows above $1200 were also considered, so it wasn't price that was a driver here. That link above lists someone saying something along the lines of "OMG - look how much crap came out of my carpet!" and somehow psychologically that states that the clear cylinder Dyson "cleans" the carpet better than, say, a bagged vacuum. Rainbow owners I know said the same thing, since you get to see the dirt every time you vacuum as you have to dump the water out. I wonder if these folks have ever looked into the vacuum bag after a single vacuuming? During shedding season, that's about how long a bag lasts. :-/

      In any case, the reviews that convinced me Dyson stunk were the ones that measured exhaust particulates. Dyson came in dead last in the class of vacuums claiming to have hepa filters etc. I was also turned off by having to dump the dirt in a messy operation into the trash. Same issue with the Rainbows, although they performed near the top for particulates. Something about sucking air through water really filters out a lot of airborne crap.

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
  12. Ob quote by Skevin · · Score: 5, Funny

    Slashdottor: ...a revolutionary type of vacuum cleaner...In three years, Dyson will become the largest supplier of robotic suction devices. All vacuum cleaners are upgraded with Dyson internals, becoming fully unmanned. Afterwards, they clean up after us with a perfect operational record. The Dyson funding bill is passed. The system goes on-line on August 4th, 2007. Human decisions are removed from household cleaning. The Roomba replacement begins to learn, at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 am, eastern time, August 29th. In a panic, they try to pull the plug.

    Sarah: DC06 fights back.

    Slashdottor: Yes. They all dump their collective dust bunnies on targets in Russia.

    John: Why attack Russia? The country's already a dump.

    Slashdottor: Because Dyson knows that the Russian refugees fleeing the country will saturate the US work pool and eliminate jobs over here.

    Sarah: Jesus.

    Sorry, just had to.
    Solomon

    --
    "Twice half-assed makes an ass whole." --Solomon K. Chang
  13. Yes, it's strange by rolfwind · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Consumer Reports gives it pretty poor ratings gives many cheaper more conventional vacs better ratings. Maybe their tests are off, or like an iPod - it simply gives the user a better experience while being technically inferior in some places.

    I usually trust CR's ratings in several categories, but I have yet to put together how the vacuum revolutionized the industry (just look at the models offered in Walmart/Target/Kmart vs 10 yrs back - they are all Dyson copies now) with its poor showing.

    Maybe it's the vacuum, or maybe it's the magazine that is at fault.

    1. Re:Yes, it's strange by brokeninside · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Consumer's Union, the organization behind Consumer Reports, buys all of the merchandise they test from retail stores so that they are testing the same kit that consumers are buying. The also develops fairly rigorous methodologies for testing. For example, in their vacuum cleaner review, they create dump the same amount of artificially concocted dirt on several different surfaces ranging from a deep shag carpet to a bare floor and record the results of having each model having a go. Does Which? take a similar approach or like most consumer magazines do they accept review models from manufacturers and simply hand them out to their staff try them out at home?



      In Consumer Reports, Eureka, Hoover and Kenmore models usually grab the top spots. Of course different models by these same companies usually grab some of the lowest spots as well. All of Dyson's models usually come in at the middle of the pack which is kind of curious given that it costs about twice as much as the top rated Hoovers and Kenmores and three to four times as much as the top rated Eurekas.

    2. Re:Yes, it's strange by jrumney · · Score: 2, Informative

      Yes, Which? does its testing in its own lab according to a well defined test plan which they detail in their articles. They don't accept advertising or test products, just like Consumer Reports. Of the brands you list, only Hoover is widely available in the UK, and like the US, some models do well in their tests, others not so well. Typically Miele and Bosch consistently do well, along with Dyson in every category except reliability. Electrolux, Hoover and some other brands have some models at the top and some lower down. The bottom is mostly populated with the cheap brands like Morphy Richards as you'd expect.

    3. Re:Yes, it's strange by ivan256 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Yeah, but only one of all those models has an arrogant prick in their television commercials.

    4. Re:Yes, it's strange by alienw · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Consumer Reports generally doesn't know what the hell they are talking about. They are OK if you are completely clueless about a certain type of product. However, they are often even more clueless. Just look at their ratings for cars, music players, hi-fi equipment, and so on. With cars, they often give badge-engineered versions of the same car wildly different ratings, with the Toyota version always being on top and the GM version being at the bottom for things like reliability ratings. With hi-fi equipment, they used to use sound quality tests that might have been meaningful in the 50s. With music players, they look at the feature list rather than the product.

      I can almost always make a better decision by looking at the products myself and making a subjective decision rather than deriving a score from a set of 5 "objective" variables. The magazine quite obviously caters to a demographic of paranoid cheapskates who think everyone is out to rip them off, and their results generally reflect that.

  14. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by iocat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It can frustrating to watch a roomba "miss" a spot, but the roomba algorithm is actually quite sophisticated. I'm not sure you'd want/need better pathfinding. What I'd like is a solution that enabled the roomba to get into tighter corners, but this seems like an engineering challenge too far.

    --

    Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

  15. No one mentioned Terminator 2 yet? by sethmeisterg · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Miles Dyson! Didn't he create the precursor to the T-200 using the chips from the first Schwarzzenegger crushed in that press-thingie?

  16. The Ultimate Roomba Killer by Palshife · · Score: 2, Funny

    Daleks.

    --
    Attention deficit disorder is a complicated issue, spanning several major... HEY LET'S GO RIDE BIKES!
  17. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by Chris+Pimlott · · Score: 2, Informative

    I tried to find a definitive price (the article you link says $6,000) but I couldn't easily find one. I could, however, find a rumour it has been shelved.

    Keep in mind that's 6000 AUD, so that's around $4800 US by today's exchange rates.

  18. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by Richard_J_M · · Score: 4, Informative

    However according to this page http://www.roombareview.com/chat/archive.php/o_t__ t_2419__dyson-dc06-vaccum.html the DC06 has been canned because Mr Dyson wanted it to be clevererer. This is probably the reason behind the new hiring, the DC06 may be re-incarnated with more intelligence at a later date.

    This has been a public service wossname

  19. Killer! by Wellington+Grey · · Score: 2, Funny

    Please don't kill Roomba! He's my friend.

    --
    Silver Clipboard: Time Management Tips
  20. Reliability more important by denoir · · Score: 5, Informative
    I've had a number of robovacs namely:

    -Roomba, unsophisticated and unreliable

    -Electrolux Trilobite, sophisticated and unreliable

    -Siemens SensorCruiser(same vac as the Kärcher RC 3000), unsophisticated and reliable.

    The roomba is well known, so no description is needed there. The Electrolux does room mapping with echolocation but has a bulky design so it gets stuck, it is noisy and on occasion it can't find its charger.

    The Siemens is has two essential pieces - the robot and the base station. The robot is small, very robustly designed and quiet. The base station is not just a charger, but a vacuum cleaner that empties the robot. Its main feature however is reliability - it always returns to the base station. Basically it vacuums for a short period 20-30 minutes, goes back to the station, charges and empties and goes at it again. After the vacuum period, it has battery power to search for the station for two whole hours - meaning in practice that it always finds home.

    At one time when I was on vacation, the Siemens was on for three straight weeks without failing. The roomba can hardly handle two hours without either getting stuck or missing the charger. The Electrolux can't go a whole day without a screw-up.

    The big point with robovacs is that they can go at it for a long time. Sophistication is not a necessity as a semi-random search will cover the entire area given enough time. So ultimately reliability is far more important than advanced sensors and room mapping.

    1. Re:Reliability more important by Sobrique · · Score: 2, Insightful
      Agreed. The real advantage of robot vacuum cleaners (or lawnmowers) would be to just 'let them run'. I don't care it it takes a few days to cover all my floor space, what I do care about is that I don't have to faff around with unloading, recharging, or otherwise 'playing' with my new robotic toy.

      Get me a cleaning bot that runs for weeks without intervention, and covers the whole area over that sort of period, and I'll buy one. (So I might actually go look at the siemens one, it sounds like what I'm after)

    2. Re:Reliability more important by amlai · · Score: 2, Informative

      May I ask what are the prices?

  21. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 2, Funny

    Oh, OK, well I'll order three then.

    We would love to have a robotic vacuum cleaner but we just have too much stuff laying around. I guess we'll have to hold out for the robotic maid. Does anyone have Rosie for sale?

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  22. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by Rosyna · · Score: 3, Interesting

    but the roomba algorithm is actually quite sophisticated.

    Clearly it's very sophisticated. You can easily notice this when the Roomba twirls around in a position for an hour and a half in areas less than 9 squared feet.

    I'm not saying the roomba is bad... it could just be a LOT smarter.

  23. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by myowntrueself · · Score: 3, Interesting

    What I'd like to see is a firmware upgrade for roomba which made it go back to its base station to recharge when its battery gets low and when its fully charged go off and start cleaning again.

    If there is an irobot techie reading this, can that be so hard? :)

    --
    In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
  24. Not very happy about patents by Builder · · Score: 3, Interesting

    It brought a large smile to my face when I opened the box on my original Dyson (DC08 maybe?) and found along with the instructions for use, a rant about patents and how little they helped when he had to fight a bigger company.

    From what I can tell, even though he had patented all of his work, it still cost him an arm and a leg to stop Hoover from just copying and destroying him.

    Having said that, I'll never go back to another vacuum cleaner. It's sad, but Dyson has seriously increased the quality of my life. The pet brush and power attachment for the one I have made my house a LOT cleaner than before, and instead of 2 hours (sweep carpets THEN vacuum), I'm now down to 1 hour to do the whole job. And I'm healthier :)

  25. Vacuums Suck! by camperdave · · Score: 2, Funny

    Dyson cylinder is our vacuum cleaner for the last year and I ain't switching!

    So, if someone says that a vacuum cleaner sucks... is that a good thing, or a bad thing?

    --
    When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
  26. Roomba Doesn't Suck by rhkaloge · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Is Dyson hoping to take on the Roomba with a much more sophisticated machine?

    The advantage the roomba has, beside the OMGIOWNAROBOT factor, is that it goes under stuff. Thus, it doesn't actually suck - it's more a floor sweeper than a vacuum. To apply their super-expensive sucking technology to a robot, it will need to be much taller than the Roomba. What we'll get is the same machine with more marketing.

    Yes, I'm 32, and yes, I chuckled every time I typed "suck".

  27. Bad gifts... by DataBroker · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is a bit off-topic, but I need to share the lesson I've learned.

    NEVER give a woman a holiday present that has an electrical cord. You'll realize this the first time that she tells her friends that you gave her a vacuum for her birthday. Awkward to say the least! Perceptions of earrings, however, varies with whoever hears the story. A rich friend imagines those massive diamond dangly things.
    If she says she wants a (corded) Dyson for Christmas, buy one for the house and then give her earrings.

    Oh yeah, and yes, my wife, who stays home, actually likes when I give her those gifts that are hard to explain to friends. It's like giving her free time if I give her something that gets the job done faster.

    1. Re:Bad gifts... by hb253 · · Score: 2, Informative

      I think she would be very happy if she received this http://www.amazon.com/Vibratex-HV-250R-Hitachi-Mag ic-Massager/dp/B00005M1WE

      --
      Self awareness - try it!
  28. Re:Ethical question by Plutonite · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Yep, cause we aint bleeding heart enough about people already.. now they can be bleeding heart about the neocortical simulation running on a microcontroller in my toaster. Very well put, you answered him perfectly. Whenever I read something like "when AI gains awareness" I get very strong impulses to kill people and/or cause damage to my surroundings, and I am not really a violent person.

    a) AI is not going to "gain awareness" very soon, if at all. In fact, we (comp. scientists) don't know what awareness really means, because it turns out our friends in cognitive psychology are pretty stumped as well. It's not about complexity - we can handle that. It's just that it may very well be that human consciousness(which affects all of cognition) is not representable mathematically. Decades of mathematical philosophy, Godel, Hilbert, Turing and others have shown us how futile mathematics (and by extension computation) is due to its LACK of inconsistency, a property that seems to belong to human reasoning alone due to this business of "awareness". Talk to any decent veteran of AI and you will see how sobered up they are compared to the cowboys who make comments like the GP, and who in my opinion should be locked up in jail until they understand the incompleteness theorems fully.

    b) "Touching" and "feeling" mean nothing if he was talking about responding to stimuli through some mechanism. Any old chair "responds" to getting kicked. Tree leaves respond to gusts of wind. Circuits respond to changes in their resistance caused by mechanical action and from this the entire field of sensors is born. There's no magic there, only simple physics. The magic is not in the mechanism/feeling, but in the recognition of the feeling, and that takes us back to (a).

    I sincerely hope people will stop talking about things they don't understand in the future, for the benefit of our collective blood pressure. Thanks again for the +1 Insightful comment tho, I couldn't have said anything better without resorting to abusive language :)
  29. Somehow funny story by Chris+whatever · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have a friend who had one of those cleaning aspirators at home, he was very happy to have something cleaning most of the dirt at home while he was away.

    Unfortunately he has a dog and on that specific day the dog pooped one large turd and the small robot just went over it and drag the shit all over his floor so when he came home he could where ever the machine went since is entire floor was covered with dog poop.

    Never used the machine again.

    one of the main reason is that his dog's manure was in every gear of the thing so it went straight to robot heaven.

    Maybe a poop monitoring feature should be installed

    1. Re:Somehow funny story by cparker15 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Funny you should mention this. I walked into my living room a couple days ago and saw a big trail of brown smear on the floor. I have three cats, and I guess one of them thought they were being funny by letting one drop in the middle of the room.

      You'd think these sophisticated consumer robots would be built to avoid situations like this. Don't they have sensors on the bottom? They should be sensing objects too large to vacuum up (like cat toys or cat feces) or liquid spills (water, juice, milk, cat urine) and moving around them. Instead of cleaning my floor, my Roomba vandalized my home. On top of it all, the insides of the thing are all gunked up, and I'M going to be the one cleaning it out and/or throwing parts away.

      I've also noticed that it doesn't do well with transitioning from hardwood floors to carpets (doesn't seem to comprehend the idea of different thickness levels on the floor) or bathroom rugs (it tries to eat them). Doesn't the Roomba have spring-loaded offroad tires on it for a REASON? When picked up off the floor, these things pop out maybe an inch and a half!

      I have one carpet with a checkered pattern on it, and the edges of the different checkers in the pattern confuse the Roomba, and it refuses to move across some of them, despite there being no difference in thickness or consistency of the fabric. I'd credit this phenomenon to a poor quality depth sensor, which probably, in actuality, looks for variances in light levels. Stupid.

      In all, my Roomba Scheduler has been the worst purchase I've ever made.

      --
      Have you driven a fnord... lately?

      You must wait a little bit before using this resource; please try again later.

  30. Dyson is right... by CheeseTroll · · Score: 3, Informative

    Vacuums with filters *do* clog up after a while. That's why I recently spent $15 on a new filter for my $100 vacuum cleaner (which we purchased 6 years ago), and it's good as new. We could replace the filter every year, and it would take 20 years to cost as much as a $400 machine.

    --
    A post a day keeps productivity at bay.
  31. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    They already do - when the battery is low, it will return to the base to charge (only limitation is it needs line of sight w/ the charging base). And you can use the scheduler to make it start whenever you want it to.

    http://store.irobot.com/product/index.jsp?productI d=2432696&cp=2174940.2174930&CFTOKEN=33755573&CFID =5935343&parentPage=family

  32. Re:They've had a robot vacuum for a couple of year by Blink+Tag · · Score: 2, Informative

    I have a roomba. I've seen it do something like this. Turns out some of the dirt sensors were gummed up. After cleaning 'em off, the roomba behaved properly.

  33. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by Gulthek · · Score: 2, Informative

    No firmware upgrade, but the Roomba Discovery does that already.

  34. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by modecx · · Score: 2, Funny

    Maybe your roomba thinks this particular spot is especially dirty.

    What exactly do you do there? Never mind, I don't really want to know! Sorry I asked.

    --
    Constitutional rights may be respected, repealed, or modified; but they must never be ignored.
  35. Re:They've had a robot vaccum for a couple of year by iocat · · Score: 2, Informative
    Although it's possible you found a degenerate case, that Roomba looks broken. Sometimes the wheel sensors get messed up and it does that. It happened to mine once (it can happen if something gets caught in the wheel). iRobot can send you a little usb dongle thingee that can fix it generally. Before I got the fix, it would behave as the one in the video did, even in the middle of the room. In a situation like the one shown in the video, the roomba should eventually try BACKING UP, which yours didn't and it should also eventually realize it's stuck (based on wheel movement) and just stop and start crying for help.

    Anyway, I'm not saying they don't break, as noted above, mine did. The battery also eventually died and I had to buy a new one (battery not roomba).

    --

    Dude, I think I can see my house from here.

  36. Astroturf! by rubmytummy · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think the tone of the OP is awfully slick, e.g. "the UK company that reinvented the vacuum cleaner". Two beers say the anonymous submitter is a Dyson marketing consultant.

  37. Two woods: hardwood flooring by PhotoGuy · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One thing that constantly amazes me in today's increasing tech world, is that people will still tolerate carpet in the slightest. It is like a magnet and trap for dirt and parasites and odor. A hardwood floor is so much more hygenic, hypoallergenic, and easy to clean. If you think hardwood floors are expensive or cold, there have been great advances in the past ten years. Laminate hardwood flooring is great looking, cheap, and easy to install (click together floating floors, with minimal cutting; anyone who can use a saw can pretty much install ones). If you like the look/feel of ceramic tile, you can get them to look like this, too. There are new cheap (and safety approved) in-floor heating options for use with laminate floors, as well, for a very cosy heating option. And an area rug over a hardwood floor provides added comfort, and an easier to clean/replace option.

    Yes, laminate hardwood isn't quite as classy as real hardwood, but it's darn close, and it's cheap, easy to install, and tough as nails (well, tougher, really).

    I see carpets as something that will seem dusgusting, ancient, and obselete within a few years. It's interesting to see technology to take care of them advancing, when there are so many better options.

    --
    Love many, trust a few, do harm to none.
  38. I own a Dyson by The+Raven · · Score: 2, Insightful

    And I've owned many other vacuums in the past as well. The Dyson is easier to empty, easier to manipulate (add extensions, use the hose, etc), and more reliable than any other vacuum I've ever used or owned. Honestly, I was pretty surprised at Consumer Report's mediocre ratings for the Dyson as well. I chalk it up to three things:

    - They're nice to their vacuums. I suspect they don't try to vacuum up trash, paperclips, tacks, and other detritus. I've had my Dyson suck up things that stunned me... a normal bic lighter got sucked up without getting stuck. In fact, I've NEVER had anything stick inside yet, despite abusing it horribly. And if something did stick, the joins where they are likely to stick snap off easily.

    - They don't test them for long. The only thing I've had to clean on my Dyson is the sweeper brush, about once or twice a year... long hairs get wrapped around it, and eventually it interferes with the belt that turns it. It's relatively easy to remove that rotating brush... MUCH easier than any other vacuum I've owned. The screws that hold it in are large so you can remove them with a coin, and there's only three parts... the plastic bottom, the brush itself, and the drive belt.

    - They don't put a rating on how easy they are to empty. With the Dyson you just detach the container, hold it over the garbage... pull trigger... tap it to get the light dust out. Close it up. Compared to the dust, mess, and cost of bags and there is no comparison. Even compared with other bagless vacuums I've used, the Dyson is far easier to empty... many of them require you to lift and dump the container, or they don't seal well and let dust leak out. Other bagless vacuums often have filters you need to change for the light particulate dust.

    Is Dyson perfect? Hardly. But I don't think the Consumer Reports tests are comprehensive enough to rate the things where Dyson is superior. I've had my Dyson for three years now, and I'm still quite satisfied.

    --
    "I will trust Google to 'do no evil' until the founders no longer run it." Hello Alphabet.