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iRobot Roomba 610 Professional Series Review
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iRobot Roomba 610 Professional Series Review |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
02/04/09
I had my Roomba Discovery for a little more than a year. My experience with the Discovery is a mixed bag of pleasures and disappointments. As a gadget person, I was happy to get the Roomba to experience the world of robotics applied to a very mundane task; vacuuming the floor. I found that the price of the Roomba was too high compared to very good Vacuum cleaners on the market. But since I already owned a conventional vacuum, I decided to get the Roomba knowing that it could not completely replace my traditional vacuum and that it could be a nice experience.
The first few days I used the Roomba I was really surprised how well it vacuumed the floors but I must say that my condo is easy for the Roomba; hardwood floors and tiles; no carpets and no pets. But I found that Roomba took almost one hour to clean an average room (12 X 12) and I had to prepare it first (remove wires, put virtual walls, etc). Then it was time to recharge the Roomba; it wouldn't have enough charge to do 2 rooms. They say the battery last 120 minutes; not true.
Also, the dust bin has to be emptied after each use to insure proper cleaning. I soon discovered that brushes, wheels and some internal parts had to be cleaned frequently as well. I used compressed air cans to remove dust bunnies in places that I could not reach easily. Conclusion; the Roomba cleans well but you need to work as much as you did when you used the conventional vacuum cleaner to ensure Roomba will do its job well.
I found that the artificial intelligence of the Roomba uses brute force logic to clean a room. The robot is blind and it will achieve its cleaning goal by bumping randomly into walls for a long time, crisscrossing the floors in order to clean a room. IRobot could improve a lot the performance of Roomba by using RFID tags placed to delimiter the perimeter to vacuum; this way Roomba would know how large the room is and how to avoid walls and obstacles.
After about one year of usage I had bad surprises. First, there was a big pile of hair trapped around the axle of the brushes motor; impossible to clean without dismantling the robot. Also, the battery started to die on me. And last, one of the arms of the side spinning brush broke.
Knowing that the warranty coverage was over and being a very handy person, I proceeded to dismantle my Roomba to access the axle and remove the hairs that hampered proper spinning of the brushes. Thanks to other people who explained on their Web Site how to dismantle the Roomba, I was successful but opening the Roomba is not easy and involves removing many small screws all over. If you want to open a Roomba you need above average experience as a hobbyist.
I ordered a part replacement kit from IRobot for the spinning brush and some filters; again I found it cost me way too much (40$) compared to the price of the robot (300$). Also, there is no stores (even the ones who sell the Roomba) who sell the spare parts; you have to mail order if you live in Montreal Canada. Result; I paid as much for shipping and handling that the cost of the replacement package.
The battery was another adventure. When it finally died, I wrote to IRobot to complain that this type of Metal Hydride battery was supposed to last a good 3 years before crapping out (about 1000 recharges) and I asked them to help me since my battery gave up just a bit more than one year. Well, IRobot never replied to me; it was clear that I was now on my own. If you read reviews on the Internet you will discover that in general people rate very poorly Irobot customer service. I was ready to gave up on the Roomba because IRobot ask for about 70$ (plus handling and shipping) for a new battery. Fortunately Web Battery resellers sell the replacement batteries much cheaper than IRobot; I found a higher amperage battery pack for about 30$ plus shipping. But I had to dismantle the original battery pack (that was glued shut) and solder in place the new pack; again another above average hobbyist task. But the same company (All-Battery.com) will sell you a replacement battery in its case for about 40$
Battery replaced, the Roomba sprung back to life and is cleaning my floors well again. But I just got another problem; the clean button does not work anymore; there is probably some dust trapped under preventing the contact from happening. But fortunately, I am using the remote control to start the cleaning cycle.
But why dust got under that button? I got the answer when I dismantled the Roomba the first time; all the electronics inside the Roomba are not sealed! This is a bit ridiculous for a robot that is sold to vacuum dust, one of electronics and mechanics worst enemy.
In conclusion, I cannot recommend the Roomba for people who want to use it as a replacement for their usual vacuum cleaner. Cleaning with Roomba requires a lot of preparation and the machine needs to be cleaned very well, very often. Also, this is not a very sturdy machine; it will surely fail in some way in the first or second year and IRobot will be more than happy to sell you overpriced replacement parts. For the money I put on the Roomba in less than 2 years, I could have gotten an excellent Dyson that would last me 10 years...
If you want to experience robotics and want to modify the Roomba for hobby projects, this little robot is a good platform and many people have posted great ideas on their Web Sites to hack the Roomba. For sure you will be busy cleaning up the Roomba and fixing it all the time! But for the same money you can either buy an excellent vacuum cleaner or a "real" programmable robot that will not require hacking.
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Clearly you've never heard a regular vacuum in an apartment.
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So when it fails to accomplish a task, it crawls into a hole and hides? Sounds like me.
02/04/09
I love my Roomba. Not only does it scare the cats(they have gotten used to the noise, and will only jump if it hits them or back them into a corner), but it does an great job of cleaning up after 2 long haired cats+1 dog and 1 short hair cat in addition to the hay and dust I bring in from the barn.
As for why you're supposed to clean the bin out, the motor is in the bin unit, so it has to work harder as it fills up. One question/request: can we get a shot of the brush cleaning tool? I wonder if they have upgraded that to something more like the Pet Brush cleaner.
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@Talryyn: I must agree with you. I have only one room in my lower floor that has carpeting, and that is only a 10x10 piece of carpet under the couch. The rest is hardwood. I found that the beater brushes on most vacuums throw things like small stones/dirt around b/c they are so high powered. They also generate static, which either shocks you, or makes hair stick to the vacuum rather than get picked up. The Roomba just slowly goes around the place and picks up everything.
02/04/09
I haven't had docking problems like some have. The invisible walls do a pretty good job of corralling the little guy, and he'll only get stuck if I accidentally leave stuff on the floor to trap him.
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