Roomba Vacuum Cleaner
The Roomba vacuum cleaner is manufactured and sold by the company iRobot. It was released in 2002, and updates and new models were released in 2003, 2004 etc. Millions of these units have been sold, making the unit the most successful and popular robotic vacuum cleaner to date.
Accessories
- Remote control - This allows a person to control the Roomba remotely.
- Scheduler - This allows a person to program the Roomba to clean the floors on a schedule, even if no one is in the home. It can also update a pre 2.1 Roomba robot to the 2.1 software.
- Home base - This is where the unit returns to for recharging.
- Virtual wall - This is used to keep the Roomba away from certain areas.
- OSMO - This is a dongle that attaches to the serial port of the Roomba.
Description
The Roomba is a disc approximately 13 inches in diameter and less than 4 inches tall. It has a large contact sensing bumper mounted on the front half of the unit, with an infrared sensor located at the top front center. It also has a carrying handle on the top. Depending on the model selected, it can come with one or two infrared transmitter units.
First and second generation model required knowledge of the size of the room prior to cleaning. This was done through the use of three small buttons, and is no longer required with newer models.
The unit operates with internal nickel metal hydride batteries and requires recharge on a regular basis from a wall outlet. Newer units have a home base that they automatically find and go to when recharging is necessary.
Using a newer generation Roomba is as easy as carrying it to where it needs to start, pressing the power button, and then pressing either clean, spot, or max.
When the clean, spot, or max button is pressed, the unit will pause for a few moments and then begin working. The contact bumper on the unit will detect bumping into objects, and the virtual walls will limit the unit to the area that is to be cleaned. There are four additional infrared sensors on the bottom of the unit that prevents it from falling off ledges or down stairs.
Unlike Electrolux models, this unit doesn't map out the room it is cleaning. Instead it relies on bumping into objects or walls to map the room. This design is based on MIT technology that robots should be like insects and equipped with simple control mechanisms tuned to their environments.
After a short time the Roomba will begin to 'sing'. If the home base is detected it will attempt to return to it. When this happens simply remove the dust bin from the rear of the unit and empty it.
This unit is not designed for deep pile carpet. It will however travel under any object that it is small enough to get under like beds, couches and other furniture. If the unit senses that it has become trapped, it will no longer sense the floor under it, but will stop and begin to 'sing' until someone comes to find it.
Those who are tired of vacuuming and don't want the hassle anymore, will find the Roomba a great investment. It allows the owner to sit back and relax, or go out and do things while it does all of the vacuuming automatically. There is nothing easier than having a Roomba around, because it will help simplify things like never before.
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