I've got a robot

[Doc Dan]

A couple of years ago my wife got to where she could not clean the house any longer because of her knees. So, we shopped around and found these robot vacuum cleaners. I thought it was all a waste of good money. Some of these have been around for years and some are good and some not so good. We tested them all and it came down to the LG and the Samsung. The LG touted itself as a corner cleaner and advanced cleaning in general, or something. But, we let it clean a dirty floor and it missed a lot of dirt and the corners were not cleaned. Then, we ran the Samsung. The Samsung not only cleaned up the dirt the LG missed, but it also got the corners. I was impressed and so we bought it.

That little robot is amazing. It cleans better than my regular vacuum cleaner. There is not even a contest. It actually sweeps more than vacuums and it does an amazing job. We have decided it is our new pet. We just turn it on and it runs around the house when it wants to and leaves everything spic and span. I have been thinking getting some of those glue on eyes and a fuzzy tail and putting them on it. Ha!

Have any of you ever tried one of these things?

[farnorthdan]

We got one when they very first came out, roomba I think, it worked ok and we used it until one day we had to throw it out. Recently acquired puppy (apparently not as house broken as we thought) took a dump in the middle of the living room while we were away on errands, not long, maybe an hour or two. Well you can imagine the mess we came home to :eek: Roomba made a direct hit on the pile then proceeded to robotic-ally disperse it through out the living room. Needless to say, we use a regular push vacuum now :D

[Doc Dan]

We do not use use ours for cleaning puppy poop. You need a scoop and a mop for that. Yuk.

Ours does vacuum really well. Even low carpet (not shag) it will do. It is so flat (flatter than the Roomba) that it goes under most furniture and cleans better than any Roomba. It cleans better than my standard vacuum cleaner. It will get stuck under my recliner as there is a bar or frame that hangs down underneath. I have to block that part off with a cushion. Otherwise, it keeps the house really neat and clean. It maps the ceiling and learns the layout, then it remembers where all of the obstacles are. After the first learning run, it is off and unlike a maid, we don't have to pay it.

Now, if I could only train it to fetch.

[rodloos]

I've wondered how well those things clean. My problem is that I'm a terrible housekeeper, and my piles of junk would probably prevent the robot from getting where it needs to in order to clean.

That plus the 4 cats (hey that's an improvement from as many as 14 cats/4 dogs when my daughters lived at home :) ) means I have tons of fur everywhere, that I am pretty sure would choke the robot.

[farnorthdan]

We do not use use ours for cleaning puppy poop. You need a scoop and a mop for that. Yuk.

Ours does vacuum really well. Even low carpet (not shag) it will do. It is so flat (flatter than the Roomba) that it goes under most furniture and cleans better than any Roomba. It cleans better than my standard vacuum cleaner. It will get stuck under my recliner as there is a bar or frame that hangs down underneath. I have to block that part off with a cushion. Otherwise, it keeps the house really neat and clean. It maps the ceiling and learns the layout, then it remembers where all of the obstacles are. After the first learning run, it is off and unlike a maid, we don't have to pay it.

Now, if I could only train it to fetch.

Neither did we, that dang robot came on by itself while we were gone and went to work, and yes it was a major Yuk, we do laugh about it now :p

[Doc Dan]

Now that's actually funny, in a sick way. :D

[Doc Dan]

I've wondered how well those things clean. My problem is that I'm a terrible housekeeper, and my piles of junk would probably prevent the robot from getting where it needs to in order to clean.

That plus the 4 cats (hey that's an improvement from as many as 14 cats/4 dogs when my daughters lived at home :) ) means I have tons of fur everywhere, that I am pretty sure would choke the robot.

You might be surprised at how well that Samsung does with all that. It will probably take a lot more frequent trips to the base to empty itself.

[The Deacon]

We got one when they very first came out, roomba I think, it worked ok and we used it until one day we had to throw it out. Recently acquired puppy (apparently not as house broken as we thought) took a dump in the middle of the living room while we were away on errands, not long, maybe an hour or two. Well you can imagine the mess we came home to :eek: Roomba made a direct hit on the pile then proceeded to robotic-ally disperse it through out the living room. Needless to say, we use a regular push vacuum now :D

Have to tell you I've been plagued by periodic fits of laughter ever since reading this around noon. :o I know, I'll burn in **** for it, along with the tens of thousands of other inappropriate things I've laughed at over the years. :D

[Doc Dan]

Yeah, that was pretty funny. I am still chuckling over it. :D

[SpyderEdgeForever]

Robots will continue to advance and while some will be specialized, others will be more flexible and even humanoid. They have already developed silicone based skin materials. While personally I think the following is morally reprehensible, this will happen as people remain as they are: robotic "escorts". It is only a matter of time before human beings have pseudo 'relations' with human looking and feeling robots. One computer engineer even wrote a book titled: "Love and Sex with Robots". They are even are now having an international conference on it. I was shocked to see it has gone this far but I should not have been:

http://loveandsexwithrobots.org/

On a good note, I see a lot of good uses for advanced robots. Hans Moravec at MIT predicts that eventually we will have inexpensive household robots to help care for people and who can do dishes and housework for us. He is a bit on the optimistic side, he believes humans will become a coddled protected Edenic group of people, pursuing those things we desire to do, while the self replicating robots do all the menial labor for us. He even predicts that some humans will choose to upload or download our conscious soul into an ever-self repairing nearly indestructible robot body.

[tvenuto]

We got one when they very first came out, roomba I think, it worked ok and we used it until one day we had to throw it out. Recently acquired puppy (apparently not as house broken as we thought) took a dump in the middle of the living room while we were away on errands, not long, maybe an hour or two. Well you can imagine the mess we came home to :eek: Roomba made a direct hit on the pile then proceeded to robotic-ally disperse it through out the living room. Needless to say, we use a regular push vacuum now :D

Have to tell you I've been plagued by periodic fits of laughter ever since reading this around noon. :o I know, I'll burn in **** for it, along with the tens of thousands of other inappropriate things I've laughed at over the years. :D

If there is a god and he has anything to do with us, I have to think that schadenfreude is his most cherished pastime.

[stream26]

I thought long and hard about buying a Dyson (and planned to for many years), but I couldn't justify (much less afford) the price. There was also the concern about the Dyson ball technology being able to get around/under beds and furniture.
I ended up getting the newest model Shark V2700Z directly from Shark (included some free accessories and a lifetime warranty). I have to say, this is one of the best vacuum purchases I've made.
I have 2 dogs, a Border Collie and an Australian Shepherd who just love to leave hair everywhere (yes, they do require additional brushing every week). The Shark model makes easy work of getting that hair up from both the carpets and from the hardwood floors.
I will say from a Bare floors perspective, while the powered head without the brushroll running does a decent job of getting the hardwood floors clean, I find myself using the Hard Floor Genie attachment more (it's a vacuum and microfiber pad in 1 tool).
The nice thing about the Shark is it goes from Upright, to Canister, to stand-alone very easily. I find myself using the Canister mode more often than upright, simply because I can just lower the handle and go straight under the bed with the powered head without having to stop, change accessories, then go under the bed.

[Water Bug]

My sister had one of these vacuum robots long ago. I was over at her house for Thanksgiving and was watching TV one night while everyone else went to bed. All of the sudden the robot came on, left its base, and went to work... that certainly took me by surprise. :eek: Kind of hard watching TV when the thing's bouncing around the living room and you're having to occasionally lift your feet to get out of its way. I also kept wondering whether it would slip down the stairs and tumble into the basement.

We still use an old Eureka Princess canister vacuum (finally found bags for it a few years ago) and a Hoover Windtunnel upright vacuum for our housecleaning needs.

[Doc Dan]

Those robots are really good. Yes, they can be a bit surprising when you have one start up on you all of a sudden. It is like having a cat or a small dog running around. But, you get used to it and unlike a cat or a small dog, the robot actually earns its keep by keeping the floors clean. (Just don't let it go through anything wet :eek: )