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iRobot: Why Roomba Is Round

Writing by Evan Ackerman on Thursday, 15 of January , 2009 at 3:41 am

Last week, we posted about iRobot’s new YouTube channel. I sort of rhetorically asked the question that iRobot mentioned in their video: why is Roomba round?

I guess someone over at iRobot must read BotJunkie (woohoo!), because they’ve actually answered the question on YouTube:

Okay, I’ll admit it, I’m impressed. It took iRobot a single day to have the answer up on YouTube, given by one of the engineers involved in the original design. It wasn’t just my question, either… iRobot has answered a few others so far, including what the most expensive component of the Roomba is, when Roomba will run Linux (PackBots already do, I think), and what iRobot thinks about medical robots. Looks like all you have to do is leave a comment on this video, and they’ll get right back to you. It’s a great idea they’ve got going on here, and I really hope they can keep it up. As for me, I have a couple questions that I’d love to have iRobot answer:

-What can we expect in the Roomba 700 series?
-When can I get an iRobot Mowmylawnba?

Or more seriously, how about this one: is there anything that iRobot has learned through the development and deployment of the PackBot and other military/industrial robots that has influenced iRobot’s home robots, or vice versa?

After the jump, find out the answer to this question: does the Roomba even have a vacuum in there somewhere?

[ iRobot YouTube Channel ]

Comments (3)

Category: Consumer,Educational

3 Comments

Comment by Ironman

Made Thursday, 15 of January , 2009 at 12:15 pm

Now I don’t mean to be insensitive, but did tim always not have an arm?

i mean i usually notice when someone is missing a limb, but i could have sworn in his first video he has two, but now he’s got one.

Am I just losing it?

Comment by Al Umis

Made Sunday, 23 of August , 2009 at 6:13 am

Very observant, Ironman. Actually, Tim had three arms in the original video – two of which he lost in a freak Roomba accident just prior to this vide. He prefers not to share the details of the incident for family reasons.

Comment by mortgage rates indiana

Made Monday, 21 of November , 2011 at 1:55 pm

It’s hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic however you sound like you know what you’re talking about! Thanks

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From the folks who brought you OhGizmo.com, BotJunkie obsessively chronicles Man's inevitable descent into cybernetic slavery.

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