Came across iRobot Roomba many years back, and were impressed by its ability then. Had recommended to many friends but I had been procrastinating to get one myself. Finally, I got it last week, while on business trip to Houston. Told myself, I need to be incentivised myself despite the 28 hours flight trip, so I bidded one at ebay for $260 USD, hand carried it back home!

Got abit of problem getting it charged initially though. Due to the difference in the power supply in US versus Asia, I had bought a compatible power supply unit with output rating of 24V/1A. Although it had worked on my friends’ Roomba, it didn’t work on mine. Either it’s because my battery was totally flat out (after playing with it when I first unboxed the item) or there’s compatibility issue with the newer 500 series model. From what I read in the forums, it appeared that the charging voltage varies between 18V to 22.5V especially when the battery is flat out. Decided to use the step down voltage converter in the meantime, but will be exploring a proper 220/240V PSU at the same time.

After more than 16  hours of charging for the first time, I had Roomba carry out its maiden cleaning in our house, and witnessed it entangled a few times. A minor house furnishing re-arrangement is needed to make it more friendly for the robot to clean the house, and this is definitely worthwhile. Hey, you do expect to do the same for a human cleaner, don’t you?

Roomba started up for the first time

 

Roomba docking home

Some photos taken