iRobot Roomba robot vacuum cleaners- any good? • Non-Gaming • Science & Technology • Eurogamer.net

coastal 28 Apr 2009 20:46:01 5,432 posts
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Does anyone own one of these little things?

I'm so tempted to get one i might have to cave in soon. For those that don't know it's a little disc shaped robot that cleans your flat and returns to it's docking station. It'll play a sad tune when it gets stuck

and i hear there's a hacks book that will tell you how to attach a webcam to it amongst other hacks.

heyyo 28 Apr 2009 20:48:22 14,356 posts
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They suck.

coastal 28 Apr 2009 20:49:12 5,432 posts
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Carlo 28 Apr 2009 21:07:07 21,801 posts
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It's useless for corners and chair/table legs.

DavetheDave 28 Apr 2009 21:08:56 1,391 posts
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coastal wrote:
Does anyone own one of these little things?

I'm so tempted to get one i might have to cave in soon. For those that don't know it's a little disc shaped robot that cleans your flat and returns to it's docking station. It'll play a sad tune when it gets stuck and i hear there's a hacks book that will tell you how to attach a webcam to it amongst other hacks.

Real geeks don't vacuum.

/would be surrounded by dust if it weren't for the missus

coastal 28 Apr 2009 22:11:32 5,432 posts
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Having a robot in the house is like living in 1950s world of the future. As long as i don't arm it i shall always rule.

GrandTheftApu 28 Apr 2009 22:27:01 6,117 posts
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We have one, it's pretty good. It's not got a powerful vacuum so I wouldn't recommend it if you have pets or lot's of carpeted floor. We only have wooden floors and it does a pretty good job. We set ours going before leaving the house and when we get back the floors are clean and the roomba is (usually) back in it's dock recharging. Don't get one if you have a lot of expensive furniture as the roomba will bash into it repeatedly and can eventually leave marks.

coastal 28 Apr 2009 22:52:03 5,432 posts
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sounds good for me. maybe i'll put some extra padding around it.

Dan234 5 May 2009 08:58:43 2,255 posts
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I wondered about these the other day, after trying to empty my bagless vacuum cleaner for the hundredth time and successfully covering the kitchen in a light layer of dust yet again. I remembered reading about them 2-3 years ago and thought that the technology would have been perfected by now.

So I checked Amazon and it turns out there are hundreds of models, and UK and non-UK versions (does the UK version cope with carpet in the bathroom or something)?

Anyone know which model is better and why?

Der_tolle_Emil 5 May 2009 09:08:20 7,308 posts
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I was thinking about getting one of those as well a couple of weeks ago. I only have wooden floors, not a lot of furniture and it would probably do a much better job than me cleaning under the sofa or under the bed. Vacuuming usually only takes me 20 minutes or so, I don't really mind but I just rarely have time during the week. In the end I just drag all the dirt and dust from one room to another during weekdays and that doesn't really help.

pjmaybe 5 May 2009 09:11:27 70,666 posts
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Got any pets? Don't bother if so, the thing's useless at getting pet fur / hair up.

Bought one for my gran and it's not too bad with crumbs and loose dust / dirt but it's shite for anything else.

Der_tolle_Emil 6 May 2009 16:18:26 7,308 posts
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Nah, don't have any pets. It's only me and some breadcrumbs.

mrpon 6 May 2009 16:28:02 37,366 posts
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pjmaybe wrote:
Got any pets? Don't bother if so, the thing's useless at getting pet fur / hair up.

Bought one for my gran and it's not too bad with crumbs and loose dust / dirt but it's shite for anything else.

They love it, don't they?!

coastal 6 May 2009 16:41:35 5,432 posts
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i got mine yesterday so it's doing the initial 16 hour charge. but i'm switching it on as soon as i get home. It's a fair bit bigger than i imagined and i'm not sure if its small enough to run between the chair legs.

�100 off ebay for a refurb.

Grunk 6 May 2009 16:51:02 4,718 posts
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what does it do with the dust? do you have to empty it daily?

coastal 6 May 2009 20:52:45 5,432 posts
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My roomba in action

mwtb 6 May 2009 21:03:27 2,381 posts
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I have one and it does what I want. I just set it to run three days a week while I'm at work and all I'm left with is a run around the corners and skirting boards about every other month.

Don't expect it to pick up everything every time though, as it just isn't that powerful. If you or your partner are fussy types then you'll be disappointed. If all you want is to keep your floors reasonably clean without effort, then you'll be happy with it.

Deleted user 6 May 2009 21:06:04

I'd be quite tempted actually, seems kinda ideal for my flat which is all wooden floors and quite small, and never gets more than a light covering of dust. And I'm not fussy about keeping it that clean. But feck me they're expensive. I suppose it was naive to expect that bringing in the era of our robotic overlords would be cheap.

Ged42 6 May 2009 21:14:15 7,985 posts
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I thought it was the law that if you have a Roomba, you have to have a cat to sit on it while it trundles round

Dan234 7 May 2009 09:14:05 2,255 posts
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Are these videos of it learning the floor layout or do they always trundle round fairly aimlessly and miss corners?

Xerx3s 7 May 2009 10:02:02 23,970 posts
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I used to think that I was an elite hardcore gamer. DF has ruined my dreams!

coastal 7 May 2009 10:33:06 5,432 posts
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Dan234 wrote:
Are these videos of it learning the floor layout or do they always trundle round fairly aimlessly and miss corners?

I understand that it doesn't map the room but it can find its way back to the charger. It must keep track of its bearing and distance to the charger i guess and then attempts to find a route back.

I suppose mapping a floor of a house or a flat will get pretty complicated as objects get moved around all the time. You could set up some memory and AI to determine the longevity of structures but i guess they found that with the right combination of random and regular movements mapping a room wasn't required.

mwtb 8 May 2009 12:35:59 2,381 posts
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It uses a sequence of "strategies", none of which include any form of mapping except a very basic use of zones if you have the little beacon things to delineate sections. The roomba does a bit of wall-following, a bit of random buzzing about, a bit of spiralling etc. and manages to cover everything it can get to eventually. If you're the sort of person who wants to see it efficiently vacuum like a person then you'll be frustrated watching it bumbling about. Personally, I watched it a few times to make sure it wouldn't destroy anything and then set it to run when I'm not in. It's part of the pleasure of owning one that you don't have to listen to the noise of a vacuum cleaner.

If you want a mapping robot hoover then you can spend a lot more money on the Electrolux Trilobite.

ScoutTech 10 May 2009 23:07:47 2,428 posts
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Just saw this and remembered this thread. Shows it does a quite good job!

Babymom 7 Jun 2013 17:37:44 1 posts
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Get a robot and you will have the best vacuum cleaner that requires little to nothing maintenance.

Load_2.0 7 Jun 2013 17:39:29 33,582 posts
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Does it have an ethernet port?

Tonka 7 Sep 2014 12:26:04 31,979 posts
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I bought one yesterday. Switched it on just before heading out today and came home to freshly sweeped floors and a happily charging robot.

The dust container was well filled.

I think the robot and I will become best friends.

IMO 7 Sep 2014 12:29:48 7,883 posts
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I'll be waiting for this to come out. It comes out in 2015 so that should be plenty of time to get the second mortgage in place.

ozthegweat 7 Sep 2014 15:19:49 2,977 posts
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@IMO It should also leave you with enough time to put everything in your home on stilts, as this thing is about as high as a refridgerator.