off topic: this, er, well-- sucks..

[pt]

we were a little skeptical about the roomba irobot vacuum, but-- after it cleaned our place and performed great-- it has really exceed our expectations. what is the roomba vacuum? it's a robot, that vacuums your house. pictures and video here:

http://www.insomedia.com/roomba/

(you can see it vacuum around the segway ht in the video too).

cheers,
pt

http://www.bookofseg.com

[RedKey]

FYI- If you want to see the Roomba in person, Brookstone has is on the sales floor available to try-out...

[dave]

It is like a pool sweep for floors. I have seen this product advertised for many months. I was hesitant to buy it because I don't think it alleviates a need for a weekly vacuuming with a standard unit. I think those who are more compulsive about cleaning will still vacuum a room after dusting or other cleaning when dust just tends to gravitate to the floor, rather than dust, and turn the machine loose.

The company recommends fully charging the unit and then placing it into a room and letting it clean the room. Then recharging the unit and putting it into a second room and so forth. If one could could just charge it once for the whole house, and let it go forth from room to room I think it would be more useful. There was also a scifi story by Heinlein, The Door into Summer. About a guy who invents a similar device.

There is also a similar device for mowing lawns, check www.friendlyrobotics.com

[RedKey]

Hey PT

My entire house is carpeted... Did you try it on carpeted areas?

An idea.... Why don't you attach a floor-sweeper under your Seg? Something like:
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=685255

I know it wouldn't handle the corners, but it sure would be fun!

[pt]

it works on our carpeted areas as well, but we mostly have hardwood floors.

i don't think i'll be using the ht for cleaning quite yet :-] that said on my daily 7 mile segway ht commute, i've stopped and picked up litter i saw in seattle, it bothered me and only took a sec.

cheers,
pt

quote:Originally posted by RedKey

Hey PT

My entire house is carpeted... Did you try it on carpeted areas?

An idea.... Why don't you attach a floor-sweeper under your Seg? Something like:
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=685255

I know it wouldn't handle the corners, but it sure would be fun!




http://www.bookofseg.com

[np]

It's a neat little fallout of a DARPA program ... but it scares the cat, so forget it [V]

OK here is a connection to Dean Kamen to keep this thread on-topic: Bob Full collaborates with Rodney Brooks (of iRobot, myRealBaby, roomba etc.) and Dean Kamen invited Bob Full to give a talk at his headquarters about Biologically Inspired Robots ... Wired magazine wrote some of that up a few months ago.

quote:Originally posted by pt

it works on our carpeted areas as well, but we mostly have hardwood floors.

i don't think i'll be using the ht for cleaning quite yet :-] that said on my daily 7 mile segway ht commute, i've stopped and picked up litter i saw in seattle, it bothered me and only took a sec.

cheers,
pt

quote:Originally posted by RedKey

Hey PT

My entire house is carpeted... Did you try it on carpeted areas?

An idea.... Why don't you attach a floor-sweeper under your Seg? Something like:
http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/SKU.asp?BCFlag=False&PageType=1&SKU=685255

I know it wouldn't handle the corners, but it sure would be fun!




http://www.bookofseg.com


http://www.neuroprosthesis.org/blogger.html

[BBBix]

Cool....It'll even clean under the segway!!!

Bill B.

"Those who think that they know everything are especially annoying to those of us who do." ;)

[Deviant]

Yeah I love my roomba. Best part is it cleans under things like beds, bird cages, etc. Another great thing is that my pre-K kid will help pick up objects from the floor, go get the roomba, and start it up! It's supposed to do carpet, and I've seen it do a good job on our local TV review, but we don't have any. We can even run it upstairs without it falling overboard (auto-sensing). The infrared emitting virtual wall is a pretty handy device. I've been using chairs, boxes, etc. to constrain it to single rooms, but I'll probably spring for another virtual wall soon to make it more convenient (lots of open area rooms joining others). When my kid decided to make "snow" out of styrofoam packing, I was very grateful for the roomba!

[tak]

I saw it on CNN & wanted it, but couldn't find it on the web. Thanx to this post, I ordered it last night. I'm pretty excited, but not as excited as I am about the Segway!