I've had a Roomba for a bit over a year, and despite some glitches
* sidebrushes were wearing out very quickly, handled well by company
* gearbox for brushes started melting from bearing friction, replaced by company
the thing cleans very well and is entertaining to watch.
You do have to learn to clean it well --you get felt pads of hair forming--
but it does a good job and you don't think about it once scheduled. Then you
just clean it as part of your Sunday morning coffee ritual, or whatever.
It finds its own recharger, which is very cool. And it has battery powered
virtual walls so you can restrict it.
Its an interesting design, besides the blind mapless insect algorithm it follows. There are lots of motors there: one for each of two wheels, one for the sidebrush, one for the two floor brushes, and one for the vacuum motor. The sidebrush is great for getting into places. The hierarchical behavior algorithms came out of Rodney Brooks' work at MIT, well after I was gone. Its interesting to notice when you perceive (project?) intentionality: when it homes in on its recharger, when it turns away from virtual walls, when it spirals because it notices dirt, and when it follows edges. When it bumbles and bounces, which is most of the time, it seems less intentional, more blind searching.
