The Roomba just got new competition from Japan: Toshiba has announced [JP] a new cleaning robot today, the so-called Smarbo (which is probably short for “Smart Robot”). Just like its US counterpart, the Toshiba robot is primarily intended for use in households.
Toshiba built quite a few features into the robot, for example two CPUs (details unknown), a camera, and a set of 38 sensors (gyro, acceleration, range detection etc.). The company says that the Smarbo cleans an area of 100sqm in about 90 minutes and that electricity costs stand at just 2 yen ($0.03) for a room of that size. → Read More
The All -Terrain Roomba isn’t brand new but recent updates have made it a formidable opponent to stairs, lumps of dirt, and other obstacles that stand between you and a completely clean Martian surface. The DIY kit uses a modded Roomba and unique chassis to offer stability and impressive speed to this little robot. → Read More
Not sure how we missed this robotic vacuum but this bugger uses lasers to scan your room and grab dust and lint as it goes. It’s quite cute how this little fellow does everything the Roomba does but, seemingly, it does it better. One more video after the jump. → Read More
Yes. It is finished. We can shut down NASA, DARPA, all the arts and sciences, and stop trying now. The pinnacle of human achievement has been reached. Robot vacuums have been hacked to play the parts in a real-life game of Pac-Man.
Video inside. → Read More
The only thing that scares me more than cleaning is robots, so I’m gonna sit this one out. But if you’re not afraid of robots or refurbished technology products, then $130 for an iRobot Roomba 530, charging station, and virtual wall unit is a wheel of a deal. → Read More
A vacuuming robot: you know you want one. I have a Roomba. It sits in its box under my desk ever since we hired a cleaning person to come twice a month. Seriously, though, you should get a robotic vacuum. Amazon has knocked $80 off one of the higher-end Roomba units, the 500 series, bringing it to a cool $199 with free shipping (today only). → Read More
Could a new Roomba be hitting the streets? Tipster Kason Jinkaid writes: Not sure if this excites you, but I heard from a Costco salesperson that they’re getting new Roombas “soon”, though that could mean months. They aren’t stocking the ones they’ve been carrying (model 550). Also Woot just sold off a bunch for 535s for ~$100 less than what they usually sell for, so are probably clearing out inventory. → Read More
If you’re a stickler for clean floors (note: I am not) but you can’t afford a live-in maid to clean them every day (note: I can not) and you’re not afraid of robots (note: I am, deathly) then perhaps you need a Roomba. → Read More
Friends, every morning I wake up, look at myself in the mirror, and choke up. Look at me: a 34-year-old man, overweight, exhausted, with acid reflux and sleep apnea. I feel like the underside of a bench at the Greyhound depot. But then see stuff like this. That’s right: that, people, is a Roomba with freaking corners. → Read More
Roomba? Check. LEDs? Check. Poor grasp of English language? Check. “My Roomba have changed to shining PACMAN!” Double check. → Read More
This is very interesting as well as being just a cool picture. By working out how long it took for a Roomba to go through a room, turning the lights out and figuring out the exposure settings, this photographer managed to catch the path of the sucker throughout the whole process. → Read More
Aren’t you a little tired of seeing nothing but Roombas for sale at woot.com? Sure, the little robots do a great job cleaning up after us filthy humans, but come on! Robots need faces! Why is it that in 2009 our robots have no faces, when twenty years ago you could get a floor-cleaning robot with a face? → Read More
Mr. Pitiful really likes his Roomba. So much so that he wrote a song about it… and made a music video for it. It’s actually from about a year ago but sometimes songs about robotic vacuum cleaners take time to develop a following. I haven’t written a song about my Roomba yet, but that’s mostly because it constantly gets tangled up in the ends of my area rug and I’m pretty sure the battery is shot even though I’ve only used it a handful of times. [via BBG] → Read More
iRobot‘s Roombas have been enjoying brisk sales in Japan for a few years now. To further boost brand awareness, their sales agent in this country collaborated with Sanrio, the company behind Hello Kitty and other extra-cute comic characters, to produce a Hello Kitty-Roomba. The Nippon-only device is based on the Roomba 530 model, with the only difference being the cute design. Available from September 30, the Hello Kitty-Roomba costs $800. It’s available online only and is limited to 500 units. → Read More
Sorta like this, but not really because iRobot still doesn’t have the proper photos up yet IRobot has a couple of new Roombas for you pet owners. Two, to be exact. There’s the Pet Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot and the Professional Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot, both of which sound like a real hoot. The Pet Series has a few things that make cleaning up after your pets a little easier, including a large sweeper bin (for collecting pet hair and dander and all that muck, shudder) and an extra set of purposeful brushes. Our cup runneth over, clearly. Meanwhile, the Professional Series steps things up a notch by including even *higher* capacity storage bins and a bin for the Roomba itself. This one is for small businesses or other higher traffic areas, where a regular Roomba isn’t quite up to the task. → Read More
This guy is still a virgin. Have any of you hacked your Roomba? via Kotaku → Read More
Robot Stock News has discovered a patent by iRobot for a “Lawn Care Robot” similar to the company’s line of robotic vacuum cleaners. While robotic lawnmowers aren’t new, they’ve had a hell of a time replacing conventional lawnmowers. You know, the kind that actually cut your entire yard in a reasonable amount of time even though you have to do all that inconvenient “walking” we’ve heard so much about. The biggest challenge for current and previous robotic lawnmower offerings has been how to keep the things inside your yard. Various methods involving line-of-sight spikes or buried wiring have been used. The iRobot patent alludes to the idea of GPS navigation or some sort of audio beacon to keep the mower within your property lines. → Read More
Not only do we bring you a video of a Roomba that’s been converted into a Bluetooth-controlled real-life Pacman, but we bring you a video of how it was done and it munching dirt in action. This is, of course, a hack, not something you can pick up yourself. And it’s in Japanese. But it’s still cool. We’re still trying to find the Donkey Kong-mod for throwing barrels at Italian plumbers. → Read More
