iRobot Dirt Dog

On Thu, 11 Jan 2007 14:41:57 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Rex quickly quoth:

It comes with "Cliff" sensors. I wish more of the folks here had those and "Nick" sensors so we could avoid the drivel.

I've been using one for about a month. More wood dust and chips on my floor than metal, here, though. Also about 50,000 dead ladybugs. However it runs great, and picks up almost everything. Not so good on getting stuff out of corners. But it does get under the workbenches all the way to the back walls, where it is normally very hard for me to clean. The only thing it has had a problem with is some 2x3 zip-lock bags I dropped over the back of a workbench. They occasionally get stuck to the plastic above the brushes, and become a shield for a portion of the brush until removed. It did handle the metal chips OK. Longest ones I've had since I got the dirt dog are about four inches.

It also works great on my porches. The slots between boards are up to

1/2 inch apart. It ignores those, but still senses the edge of the stairs just fine. Now if I could just get wire brushes for it to loosen up this dried Tennessee clay....

-dan z-

__ Banning guns because criminals use them is telling the law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct but on the behavior of the lawless. It tells honest citizens that they have only such rights and liberties as criminals will allow.

Wow, I had no idea it would be worth a damn. I guess oil sorb would be a challenge though. I'll have to keep an eye out for another deal.

Now you can buy the chassis and develop your own device. See:

"IRobot opens interface to Roomba platform

Opening the control interface of its popular Roomba vacuuming robot, iRobot Corp. unveiled a programmable robotic platform on Monday that could allow computer programming students and developers to use the platform for nearly any task.

Programmers inside the company have already used the pie-shaped platform -- called Create -- to design robots that carry a laundry hamper and follow a person across a room, find and open the refrigerator door to retrieve a can, or dribble sand on a carpet to sketch intricate designs..."

I can see it now. "Hey Brewba, go get me a brew from the fridge, some munchies and bring it back to the workshop".

--Woot woot! Got one the other day; awaiting delivery. First job will be to see if it can deal with a carpeted floor that's covered with Xmas tree debris. If it doesn't like carpets I'll exile it to my workshop.