Re: Roomba 570 problems

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

"Dan Lanciani" <ddl@danlan.*com> wrote in message
ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx (Robert Green) writes:
>
> | The "DirtDog" Roombas keep trying to shove more dirt in the tray when
full
> | so the dust begins to spill out into the machine's gizzards.  The
DirtDogs
> | really need some sort of "full" sensor to shut them down or at least a
> | transparent window on the dust bin - which I may cut into mine when the
> | warranty is up.
>
> I'm hoping for a version that empties itself at the dock.

That's not a bad idea, but it would require a larger enclosure and a second
vacuum motor for the charging station.  It might be possible to mate the
self-charging base with a central vacuum outlet and then cut a relay
controlled port and flap in the dust bin so that upon docking, it would
activate the central vacuum long enough to empty the bin.  The problem with
that is that an automatic brush cleaner would also be needed, and that's a
chore that doesn't seem easy to automate.  Maybe tiny bots could clean it
the way remoras clean shark's teeth.  (-:

I'd also like one that pauses and summons a human operators to say "I am
about to sweep and suck up a big, steaming pile of dog doo into my innards -
Proceed?"  That scenario hasn't happened yet.  Yet.   Maybe I need a
reconbot to sweep the area before I unleash the others.

I want a eco-friendly version that powers itself from micro-cold fusion of
the grunge it sweeps up and then uses nanobots to root out all the yuck that
gets caught in the rollers.  I also want them to levitate to table height
for inspection and to automatically activate when something spills - sort of
like that famous classic animation feature of the automatic home with a
cleaning robot that goes overboard in enthusiasm and comes out of its
cupboard and cleans the ashtrays each time someone flicks an ash.  I think
it was a Max Fleischer cartoon but Google has failed me again - oddly
enough, I see the same several hits even after some extreme changes to the
query so someone's gamed their algorithm.  Anyway, that old circa 1940
cartoon, the Jetsons and the 63 World's Fair all lead to my interest in home
automation

I've got to talk to the other "fleet owners" to see how they manage their
Roombas.  The biggest issue lately is Roombas that get into a fatal
confrontation with an errant sock or tissue under the bed.  It's part of the
reason I own more than one.   I wait until at least two go MIA before I send
out a reconn patrol.

I've been thinking of putting a tow rope on them and training the dogs to
retrieve them when they start their "I can't get up!" beep tones.
Seriously, though, I would suggest Roombas for the elderly except for the
problems "herding" them.   I had been thinking of building a rising platform
to lift them up so my folks could use them but fate intervened.  The need to
more than occasionally crawl under the bed to haul stalled Roombas out makes
them a bad buy for the brittle-boned, especially the way they resist
extrication with their high-friction gnarled rubber tires.

With all the Roomba's smarts, it should be able to disengage the stuck
rollers and motor to the brightest spot in the room and THEN cry for help.
That should be a piece of cake for its binocular IR sensors.  They'll get
there someday.  The current generation of Roombas has a lot more engineering
"smarts" than the early versions.

P.S.  Don't count on HS's lifetime being long.  That sector of the economy
is beginning its death spiral and the once "Sharper Image" is now the
"Out-of-Focus Image."

http://www.google.com/search?q=sharper+image+bankruptcy

The first thing SI did was to stop honoring their gift cards.  I guess they
want to make sure the don't emerge from bankruptcy with any loyal customers.
Or emerge from it at all.

--
Bobby G.