Test the ability to overcome doorsteps/door sills.
What is the maximum height that will stop them?

Only a few question about the neato.

Why did they delay on the exact release date? And when they will be released?

Why don`t Neato answer mails?

How about picking up very long hairs (of girlfriend)? will this work out?

Will there be a 230V version?

Are the knifes included? :-)

Cheers

Do they deal differently with:
power cords?
items left on the floor such as socks and shirts?
transitions between hard floors and carpet?
does one get stuck more frequently than the other?
Roomba sometimes can’t find its base, how about neato?
Roomba completely barfs on shag carpet, does the neato handle this any better?
How loud are they relative to each other?
Is neato easier to clean but still effective enough?
Roomba forgets its schedule and must be reprogrammed if it runs out of juice, how about neato?
Does neato have a lighthouse equivalent for areas where one can’t lay down a mag strip (like a doorway)?

How do they compare in their ability to go over short obstacles (I ask since we have a rather large drop between our dining room and kitchen which our roomba has trouble navigating)?

Do you have any idea how the build quality of the XV-11 compares with the roomba (durability etc)?

I would be very interested (if possible) in hearing very robotics specific things like design issues they had, speaking from a purely robot builder perspective. The sort of questions that only fans of robotics would be very interested in. Questions like how long did it take to build the first prototypes. What was the hardest part of the design to overcome.

Also once the initial idea to make the robot was decided, how was the design team built up over time as the designs evolved to a final product. (I remember hearing a while ago how the iRobot team were encouraged to design and redesign fighting to get to optimize the production costs down to as cheap as possible. That was very interesting stuff. I would like to hear more like that if possible).

iRobot look like a big corporation now, but that early experimental builder stuff is fascinating. Its like a glimpse back to the early enthusiastic days of the early computer industry, which is now real historical stuff. The robot industry is moving that same way, so this early historical technical issues stuff is really interesting. (I would like to hear this from both iRobot and from Neato as well, as I know even less about them).

Sorry to do a 2nd part to the post, but I just wanted to add, that companies like iRobot and Neato are not just making products. They are (I think) still also pioneering a new industry. So I think we are still very much in these enthusiastic inspiring pioneering early days. So questions right from initial sparks of inspiration and eureka moments, right up to the happiness of finally selling the first few units is very interesting now and I suspect will remain interesting for future generations. So what I’m trying to say is questions that capture that enthusiasm of still early days pioneering in robots.

If I let the Roomba 560 loose on the whole house and the dock station is in my room, how slim is the chance that it will find the dock again before starving it’s battery? It needs to wander around for as long as it takes hoping that it gets near the dock again before the battery dies, right?

Can you have the reps from both companies discuss what all their robots/companies do to support hacking?

iRobot has the Roomba Serial Command Interface and a forum about how to hack the roomba. the roomba itself has a mini-DIN TTL serial interface that is obnoxious to hook up to (neither physically nor electrically compatible with a pc or mac) but third party options exist to allow direct programming of the roomba’s onboard computer. is there a reason why iRobot didn’t go with USB or a standard serial port? (i’m assuming they went with TTL for external embedded electronics additions?)

does the neato xv-11 have anything comparable to the roomba serial command interface? what’s the deal with the “potentially exciting little USB port” on the back that you mentioned in your review?

on an unrelated note, have either company considered an option to remote control their robot vacuum over the internet and stream video? this would be a great way for people to check up on their homes when they’re away. few people seem willing to buy a separate robot for that exclusive task, but if iRobot offered a < $100 add on that provides that feature, i'd buy it and put it on my roomba 560.

When is the XV-11 going to be released? Is there an exact release date yet? Will XV-11 be sold in any retail or online stores?

How well does the magnetic tape work compared to the Roomba light houses? Do you put the magnetic tape on the floor or wall?

How well does the XV-11 deal with getting caught on obstacles or going over doorways?

Is there a spot cleaning mode?

Does the XV-11 have an alert sound for when it runs out of power or gets stuck somewhere?

Having used them for a longer period of time, how is the maintenance for each robot?
Do you have to clean out hair and such from the wheels or dust from the sensors for example.

15 min VS 45 min… game OVER!

1. Is there some alert when the bin is full or do you have to manually check every time?
2. How does it clean tiled floor?
3. Someone asked about 220V, that’s really important.

I can’t seem to find the article that answers all of the questions, is it published yet, or still to come?

As a pre-order costumer I can tell that Neato themselves have written the following about deliveries “Unfortunately Neato Robotics is experiencing a production delay due to component shortages in two key areas. Because of this, we are facing a delay of 12 to 16 weeks, which defers our first shipments until June/July.

These robots will be allocated with first priority given to customers like you who have pre-ordered through our website.” on the first of April.

About selling elsewhere I read Amazon would be selling them, but I can’t remember where and the when is most likely not before everyone who ordered from neatorobotics.com have gotten theirs.

Just wondering if there is an ETA on the comparison … your post said “next few days,” and it’s now been two weeks!

Thanks

I’ve also ordered a Neato robot in March, I’ve sent an inquiry and have not had a response so I was glad someone did have an update on when deliveries would start, so if they had January pre-orders, I most likely won’t get mine until Christmas. I worked in a high tech production facility and scheduling production doesn’t have to be this bad. I hope it is worth the wait.

I received my Neato robot today (08/17/2010) at 1:52 pm.