CNET’s Daniel Terdiman, aka lucky sod, got to spend the day checking out iRobot’s headquarters in Massachusetts. While there he got some footage of these Roomba reliability testing chambers, where Roombas (tethered to power sources) vacuum until they can vacuum no more, at which point someone figures out what happened, fixes it, and then puts them back to work.

Daniel also spoke to iRobot’s president of government and industrial robots division, Joseph Dyer, who had a few things to say about military robotics. More, after the jump. (Read more…)

People use Roombas (generally, Creates) as bases for all kinds of robots… They’re not often used for bigger (heavier) bots, but if you stick four of ‘em together, you can apparently support a payload of up to 20kg or one Robotinho android. The Roomba QuadDrive was developed by University of Bonn’s Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab, and consists of four Roomba 530s bolted together, and as far as mobile bases go, I imagine it’s probably pretty cheap and reliable. The top speed of 0.5 mph isn’t going to shock and awe, but it’s fine for tooling around a museum and scaring little kids:

And of course, the floors of that museum are damn clean. Quadruply damn clean.

[ Bonn AIS ] VIA [ Hizook ]

Now that we’ve reviewed both the iRobot Roomba 560 and the Neato XV-11, you’re probably wondering which one you should get. There’s no easy answer, but in this post we’ll highlight the features of each robot and the differences between them, so that you can decide which one is right for you.

If you haven’t read our individual reviews of each robot, you can get lots more detail at the following links:

BotJunkie Review: Neato Robotics XV-11
BotJunkie Review: iRobot Roomba 560

And, there will be jousting, after the jump. (Read more…)

When we posted our reviews of the Neato XV-11 and iRobot Roomba 560 robot vacuums, you had some questions. Well, Neato and iRobot have some answers. We also gave Neato the chance to respond to our iRobot interview… We’ve got it all for you, after the jump. (Read more…)

If you’re not too worried about comparing features and you just want a cheap robot vacuum, you have 24 hours 23 hours and 45 minutes to pull the trigger on a totally decent iRobot Roomba 530. It doesn’t have scheduling and can’t do lighthouses, and doesn’t have as much battery life as some of the other Roomba models, and it’s refurbished, but it does a good job cleaning up and will only cost you $145 shipped on Woot.com. This is less than half of what a 530 costs new from iRobot, which is a heck of a deal. Act fast, though, because the deal will disappear in 23 hours 45 minutes 30 minutes or when they sell out.

[ Woot ]

We’re putting together a head-to-head comparison of the iRobot Roomba 560 and the Neato XV-11, but before we put the issue to rest, is there anything else you’d like to know? Maybe something that we didn’t cover to your satisfaction in our reviews? We’ve had additional questions about energy consumption, noise levels, and robot height, but now’s the time to let us know if there’s anything else we missed, since we’ve got people at iRobot and Neato who are ready, willing, and able to answer any and all of your questions. Maybe you’re wondering why the Roomba is round, or what happened to the XV-1 through XV-10.

Or maybe you’re wondering which robot is better at jousting.

Yes, we made them joust.

So, if you’ve got any more questions, leave them in the comments and we’ll get them answered, and we’ll have the ultimate comparison post (with jousting!) up in the next few days.

The iRobot Roomba is not a new product. Since 2002, it has been (more or less) the only robotic vacuum available to consumers in the US. iRobot has been continually improving the Roomba, however, and the Roomba 560 is one of the latest and most sophisticated models. Now that there’s some new competition on the horizon, it’s a good time to take an updated look at the Roomba and what makes it a reliable and effective autonomous vacuum. We’ll have a review of the aforementioned competition (the Neato XV-11) up tomorrow so that you can compare the two, but for today, we have a review of the Roomba 560.

If you’re not familiar with the Roomba, here’s the deal: it’s a robotic vacuum cleaner that can clean your floors all by itself. All you have to do is tell it to start cleaning, and it’ll go clean, avoiding obstacles and getting around furniture and ultimately returning to its home base to recharge itself. There’s a lot more too it than that, of course… Lots more, after the jump. (Read more…)

The home robotics market has gotten a bit more diverse in the last year, and iRobot’s Roomba is facing some new competition. BotJunkie talked with Nancy Dussault Smith, Vice President of Marketing Communications at iRobot, about what’s keeping the Roomba the robot vacuum to beat. She discusses how iRobot has been improving the latest generation of Roombas, how the cleaning behavior of the Roomba is not random, and how she sees the Roomba as distinguishing itself from other vacuum robots such as the Neato XV-11.

The entire interview follows, after the jump. (Read more…)

Yes. We’ve got one. I had to do some things that no robot journalist should ever have to do, but I have a Neato XV-11 in my living room right now.

And a Roomba 560.

They’re just sitting there, staring at each other. You could cut the tension with a robot wielding a knife.

I know what you’re wondering… Which one is better?

Well, I’ll tell you. But not until next week, since I need some time to review both the Roomba and the XV-11, put together video of the latter, and let them bump into each other until only one robot is left sucking.

I have the XV-11 for just 24 hours (after which I think it’s been programmed to kill me), so if you have any specific questions you’d like answered, post a comment (quickly). And no, I won’t rip it open and show you the laser sensor.

Stay tuned.

Some people might complain that Roombas are slow. This turtle, on the other hand, seems to be hanging on for dear life.

Or maybe not. It’s a turtle, I can’t tell if he’s having fun or not.

Or she…? Ok, I give up. Is there a herpetologist in the house?

VIA [ Neatorama ]