I spent last week-end (almost all of the week-end) evaluating th engineering that went into a Roomba (robotic vacuum cleaner).
I was impressed!
Short of odd thresholds in my near 100 year old house, it performed wonderfully.
It use infared from its base station to help navigate and has optional "virtual walls" that keep it from wondering into yet another room. I witnessed it crawl into a snarl of electric cords and kept fighting till it got all of the dust that I would have ignored.
It seems to really like dirt. When it finds dirt (light on top lights up) it does a little happy dance around where it found the dirt and then return periodically to the same place to try and find more concetrating on the worst spots.
And it loves a challenge.
After completing all of my common rooms I let in wonder into my neighbors place (duplex, we share the conservatory aka front porch) and boy did it have good time in his place( bachelor, what else do I have to say?). It kept jumping the threshold to get back in there to find more fun.
It even has a voice that will tell you what is wrong and how to fix it (antique oriental rugs had loose tassles that jambed a wheel).
And when its done..... It puts itself away by returning to the base station and recharging itself.
I was very impressed by all of the engineering that went into tht Roomba.
Adapts to stuff moving in the room while it cleans, untagles itself from wires, has a mini edge brush that get the edge along the wall. Easy as dirt to maintain. Even tolerated the grandaughter playing cowboy and lassooing it while running.
So my engineering review is 10 thumbs up.
Ben
