 |
| Angelika/Mike Schilli |
|
Michael No one in our household likes to pick up the vacuum cleaner. Pushing that heavy thing around the apartment and then having to go back and forth over every piece of lint five times until it finally gets sucked up -- it's incredibly annoying.
Fortunately, for some time now, there have been small vacuum robots like the "Roomba" that you just turn on, and it independently explores the apartment. The saucer-shaped little guy remembers which obstacles it encounters and gradually builds an internal map of the area covered. Once it has covered all the corners, which takes about half an hour depending on the room size, it beeps a cheerful melody and turns itself off. The little fellow is surprisingly effective, as it also goes under the couch and the bed, where a regular vacuum cleaner would never reach.
However, the device is not yet perfect, so it can sometimes happen that it loses some dirt or gets stuck on carpet fringes. But most of the time, it manages to get itself out of the mess by trying different strategies (backwards, forwards, turning) until it can move freely again. It's a lot of fun to watch!
The Roomba runs on its rechargeable battery for about an hour, then it needs to return to its charging station. If you don't want it to roam through the entire apartment, you can limit its range with so-called "Virtual Walls." These battery-operated blocks emit a linear radio signal in one direction, creating something like a light barrier for the Roomba, causing it to turn around immediately.
I have a small video with the Roomba in action, as it just reaches under our bed, comes back out, and then tackles the dirt under the dresser. By the way, there is also a second video from another Roomba owner that is very funny, where a Roombascares a house cat.
I can recommend the Roomba; it's just incredibly cool to lock it into a room and let it work for half an hour while you turn on the TV or tinker on the computer.
){kind=link}