Re: Roomba 570 problems

[vincentb <vincentb.38pynn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I've got 2 robotic vacuums - a Roomba and a Karcher.  The Karcher is 8
times the cost of the Roomba (because it has excactly what you asked
for Dan - a self-emptying station, that sucks all the dust out of the
vacuum and holds it in a dosposable bag concealed in the station).  But
that is DEFINITELY not worth 8 times the cost of the Roomba.  I think my
Karcher robotic vacuum is also obselete by now... it's about 4 years
old.

My Roomba works flawlessly also, but i too have seen friends' Roombas
fail... as mentioned, one suffered from the 'spiral of death' and
another's stairs sensors stopped working (didn't go down stairs as
gracefully as a slinky).  You'd think iRobot would have tracked down
these recurring problems and resolved them in the 570.  But i can't
personally complain, my Roomba has been fabulous, and picks up much
more than my Karcher model.

I'm looking to add some more logic to my Home Automation system -
running HAL and  MyServant software
(http://www.futuretouch.com.au/gotosoftware.htm) so that it will detect
how much activity occurs in the living room and automatically sends the
IR codes to kick off the Roomba whenever appropriate.  I can't
necessarily tell if someone's been sitting on the couch waving their
hands for an hour, or people have been walking on the carpet for an
hour, but it doesn't hurt to auto vacuum anyway.


--
vincentb

Regards,

Vincent B
'www.futuretouch.com.au' (http://www.futuretouch.com.au)