I got a Roomba!

[WILL]

Hey guys,

I just posted here to tell you all that I am the proud new owner of one of the most advanced vaccuume cleaners in the world. The Roomba(Roomba Discovery to be exact). Yes, I needed a vacuume, but I couldn't have just any old vacuume I wanted a robotic one!

As I speak it's picking up dirt from my floors! I had to do alot of spot cleannings at first (my floors were really dirty to be honest, it's been a long time since I cleaned the carpet), but it did the job and now it's on one of it's standard 'Clean' cycles.

It came with a super cool, remote that I can drive it to messy spots or spills when required and home base that lets it recharge it's self when it's battery is low. That was the must have feature for me... Save changing it's dust bin and routeen maintenance, I don't have to lift a finger.

There are 2 'virtual' wall barriers that I have to get some D Cell batteries for to use. (2 D Cells per barrier device). This'll be handy to keep it from getting on wet floors, etc...

It has some cool AI features too. Dirt Detection, changing surfaces and edge detection (prevents it from falling down stairs). Does a prety good job cleanning normal carpet dirt, etc... got alot of hair and stuff along the edges of the walls too. Has a bunch of brushes a filter (that you need to change about every 2 months).

-Oh, just ran outta juice, found it's 'home base' and docked. I think thats it for tonight for my new little toy.

Got it for about $400CAD (Canadian Dollars)! Not bad if you ask me.


Anybody else got one? I'd be glad to answer some questions if you are interested in this sorta thing.

Here's iRobot's Site http://www.irobot.com/consumer/

...and here is a picture of the Roomba Discovery that I got.

[{MSX}]

ehehe i read about them before.. indeed they looks great !

The first thing i'd do about it is try to reprogram it What processor does it runs ? Is if FPC-compatible ?

[K4Z]

When there's little robots running around cleaning up after you, you know the future is here

Do you have a cat or dog? does it freak out when it sees it? haha

[JSoftware]

awww it's cute!

[WILL]

My Roomba is still working strong!

I've heard a few horror stories about some peoples vacuums breaking down within a week or little over a month, but mine seems well built and stable. Of course maybe I just know how to treat it properly?

I've done a bit of reading to see if it can be reprogrammed or upgraded, but nothing I've read suggests that it's possible quite yet. :?

I think at least a firmware upgrade by iRobot should be an option eventually. It'd make these robots more economically sound and makes for a stronger selling point. Plus I'd like to see it evolve slightly with some of the newer ideas that other companies and engineers have come up with.