Roomba Grows On Honey Chases Johnny

A few months ago I was perusing the AmEx website with some points burning a hole in my pocket. Honey and Johnny were across the country. AmEx had a deal on a Roomba 560. I thought I would surprise them on their return and ordered one. It arrived the same day they did. Honey was more than a little dubious about this new toy. Johnny thought it looked like a flying saucer. The next evening I got Honey to unpack it and set it up. She did it grudgingly. She absolutely refused to give it a name. "It's just a toy vacuum cleaner", she said.

iRobot Roomba 560 Robotic Vacuum
 
When she opened the shipping box she found the Roomba (or flying saucer), its docking station and power brick, the battery,  two lighthouses to help corral it,  an extra filter, a brush cleaning tool, and the instructions she was now struggling to understand.  Once all the parts were out and the packing removed she asked me to blow up the manual so she could read it. I was surprised it wasn't Roomba she wanted blown up. She dutifully got everything together and found a home for the docking station. She pushed the Dock button and with a series of beeps and light flashes it went to its home and settled in for some charging. That took overnight.  Honey was still not impressed.

When she, with some trepidation, pushed the clean button the next morning Roomba beeped and flashed and started its trek across the living room floor. It wasn't long until it disappeared under some furniture. Honey started to rescue it, but it found its way out all by itself. Its path seemed pretty random.  It would come to an obstruction, slow down until it actually touched it, and then go off in some other direction. A couple of times a blue light came on and Roomba would circle awhile. We found out this was its spot clean mode. It had sensed a dirty spot and went after it with a vengeance. I actually caught Honey smiling. Johnny was shaking his head and chuckling. We had set the lighthouses up as virtual walls to keep Roomba out of the kitchen and hall. Most know about the need to child-proof a home. We also had to Roomba-proof ours. Roomba really seemed to enjoy pushing a shoe around and would forget about its vacuuming job when one was available. Roomba also dove into every nook and cranny and sometimes got stuck so we had to block those by judicious use of furniture placement. Johnny got up on his walker to move and Roomba immediately began snapping at his shoes.  It found its way under the dining table and chairs and back out again. It vacuumed the rug at the entrance and didn't have trouble with the tassels on it. Finally it beeped a couple of times and headed for its home. It decided its job was done and it needed some rest and recharge time.

Since that first experience Honey has grown fonder of the cute little fella. Johnny has learned to tolerate its nipping, and we have figured out the optimum placement of its docking station and how to use the lighthouses to get it to do one room, then the next, then the third, and still get home before it wears itself out.

So what is this Roomba thing?

Roomba is a robot vacuum. It has been improved over the years in construction, design, and software. The intent is to make the chore of vacuuming a little easier for the busy household.  Essentially it vacuums carpet and hard floors, getting into corners, along baseboards, and gathering up the dirt into an onboard container. It is (flying) saucer shaped with three wheels, two of them powered independently so it can literally turn on a dime. It has two counter-rotating brushes that self adjust from hard floors to even thick carpet. It has an edge cleaning brush that spins to knock dirt from edges to the area where the vacuum action can pick the dirt up and direct it to the enclosed bin for later emptying. It has sensors that sense objects in its path and slows it down before hitting the object. It has other sensors that detect drop-offs like steps so it can avoid falls.

It can also sense the two included lighthouses that either keep it out of areas that are off-limits or encourage it to complete the cleaning job in one room before moving on to the next, depending on how the lighthouses are set up. It can also detect its docking station so it can return there when it is finished or its battery is getting low. But what makes the Roomba a robot is how its on-board computer uses all of this sensing information. It will actually learn a room over time and get more efficient. It is programmed to cover a room twice before it is finished. If the lighthouses are set as virtual walls it will turn when it encounters the infrared beam from them. If they are set as lighthouses it will complete its two circuits then pass though the lighthouse beam to the other side and do that area.  This model of Roomba can be programmed to start by itself at a set time and do its job. This is a great feature for working families. We have it set to do its thing before Johnny gets up so it won't chase him. The construction is modular so that parts can be easily removed for cleaning or replacement. It comes with a one year warranty.

Is it a toy or useful?

We have our carpets professionally cleaned four times a year. Since Roomba joined the family we have not once gotten the heavy Kirby out. If we get a spot of soil between major cleaning we spray it with a carpet cleaner and sick Roomba on the spot.  We are only about half way through the warranty period, but have had no problems. We follow the advice in the manual and empty the dirt container every couple of uses. We clean the hair and string off the brushes using the brush cleaning tool. We wipe it down with a damp cloth occasionally to keep it bright looking. We just replaced the filter with the spare and ordered more. Our carpets always look fresh and clean. When friends come over they remark on how well it does its job. When the nieces and nephews are over it is a toy, but the rest of the time it is a valuable member of the family.

Final Thoughts

When I suggest to Honey that Roomba needs a name, she still says, "it's just a vacuum." Note the word toy is missing now. I notice she talks to it, however, and when she picks it up she carries it like it is a baby, not a vacuum. I have even heard her say to friends, "I thought it was just a gimmick, but it has grown on me. I really like it, especially when I think of pushing that heavy Kirby around." It still has no name.