Robotic Vacuum Cleaners

I hate house cleaning. I have watched for news on robotic vacuum cleaners for several years. There are quite a few companies that have actually developed robotic vacuum cleaners or announced plans for such a product. Electrolux, Hitachi, Trilobite, Karcher and Roomba actually have products on the market. Dyson and Hoover have either tested or announced plans for future products. All of the commercially available vacuums of which I am aware cost well over $1,000 except for iRobot Corp.’s Roomba vacuums. There are Roomba vacs in the $150-$250 price range depending on the number of bells and whistles.

Christmas of 2003 I broke down and bought a Roomba. I knew the Roomba was good for only light cleaning. It removes surface dirt from carpet, but lacks the suction for deep cleaning. When the Roomba arrived, I charged the battery and turned it loose in the living room. It started off in a spiral pattern. The diameter of the spirals kept increasing until it ran into furniture. It has vinyl coated, spring loaded bumpers so that it does not mar the furniture. It did manage to get stuck between the legs of a dining room chair. When it has a problem such as being stuck or exhausted battery, it has a series of beeps to signal its problem. The dust bin filled up rapidly and had to be emptied several times. The Roomba worked on carpet and hard-surfaced floors equally well. I loved the little critter when it went to work cleaning under my bed.

Unfortunately after approximately six weeks of daily use the Roomba developed a problem. It would start out on its spiral pattern and stop. It did this repeatedly. I called the iRobot tech support line and was given a RMA to return the product. They promptly returned a new-looking Roomba. This one ran a little over a week. I again went through the return process. The third Roomba arrived and was DOA. I by-passed the tech support telephone number and called the corporate headquarters and asked for my money back. To my amazement a very nice lady called back and apologized for the problems I had experienced. She told me to package the Roomba in the original carton, and she would have UPS pick up the package. Later that day a man from iRobot’s accounting department called to get credit card information so he could send in a credit. My credit card was credited before the package even reached iRobot. I would still really like to have a robotic vacuum cleaner. The first Roomba was great while it lasted. Some day I will try again.

Just a few more words about iRobot Corp. The Roomba is only one of their robotic products. They have government contracts and are supplying the U.S. Army with robots that search for land mines in Afghanistan and Iraq. Maybe one of these days they will deliver an affordable vacuum cleaner that will be able to stand up to daily use. I am going to continue to watch.