I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019) • Hacker News Board

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#31

Post by sumedh » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:45 PM UTC

ballballball wrote: post #21

I too bought a robotic vacuum out of curiosity (high end iRobot) and found the algorithm to be completely inadequate both in it's mapping and it's ability to adequately cover the area that it was supposed to clean. Additionally it left random patterns in the carpet that could only be described as a drunk toddler vacuuming... in other words, it didn't look clean. It took more than 3 days to map the three rooms that it…

You should have got the Roborock S6, I have the S5 (older model) and its surprisingly good for around 300 USD.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#32

Post by dharma1 » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:47 PM UTC

I've had the Xiaomi one for a couple of years, the one with lidar. It's great. Used to love watching the app as the little guy gets to work and the map starts building realtime.

It runs Ubuntu, you can root it. And even get spotify running on it.

https://github.com/dgiese/dustcloud

https://medium.com/@anxodio/how-to-get-spotify-working-on-yo...

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#33

Post by tasubotadas » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:49 PM UTC

I have exactly the same model and I had exactly the same experience. I was mesmerized by the device to see how it would reach my entire apartment following really simple algos.

Also, I also had very little expectations in the beginning (just a bit less dust) but it did really amazing job.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#34

Post by bigpeet » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:50 PM UTC

dharma1 wrote: post #32

I've had the Xiaomi one for a couple of years, the one with lidar. It's great. Used to love watching the app as the little guy gets to work and the map starts building realtime. It runs Ubuntu, you can root it. And even get spotify running on it. https://github.com/dgiese/dustcloud https://medium.com/@anxodio/how-to-get-spotify-working-on-yo...

I've recently got a Xiaomi one myself. Will look into these ressources, thanks.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#35

Post by aabajian » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:51 PM UTC

I have Eufy and a tiny 450 sq. ft. condo. I'm still amazed at how much dirt the vacuum picks up. 15 min of manual vacuuming is nothing compared to 2 continuous hours. Now that I have a dog, for $200, it's a no-brainer. When I come home it's a noticeable difference.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#36

Post by amelius » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 12:53 PM UTC

I suspect there is some bias going on here. I bet if you just watched a simulation of the robot (which could probably even run in the browser), you wouldn't be all that impressed. The fact that it has motors and that it moves makes it cool.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#37

Post by gbrown » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 1:01 PM UTC

ballballball wrote: post #21

I too bought a robotic vacuum out of curiosity (high end iRobot) and found the algorithm to be completely inadequate both in it's mapping and it's ability to adequately cover the area that it was supposed to clean. Additionally it left random patterns in the carpet that could only be described as a drunk toddler vacuuming... in other words, it didn't look clean. It took more than 3 days to map the three rooms that it…

The Neato vacuums do a much better job in this respect IMHO. They figure out the space with lidar and use a rectangular pattern.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#38

Post by samsolomon » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 1:02 PM UTC

Robot vacuums have been such a game changer for me. It's funny because functionally they are worse than a cordless sick or full-size vacuum in almost every way. However being able to turn it on before I head for work everyday makes a giant difference.

One thing I am skeptical of is robot vacuums that connect to the internet. Some of the higher end Roombas do that and I'm skeptical that it makes them more efficient. Wrote some more about it here:

https://productdork.com/t/whats-the-best-robot-vacuum-cleane...

The good news is that the Eufy's seem to work fine without any internet connectivity. I've got the Eufy RoboVac 11S and would highly recommend it. Unlike my previous Roomba, it doesn't speed up before bumping into things—it mostly avoids it. Also, it is significantly quieter.

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#39

Post by voiper1 » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 1:10 PM UTC

I got a robo-vac, but ultimately stopped using it because of chairs and children. I had to clean up in order to run it at all, and it would get stuck under the chairs and not be able to get out. (I guess exactly the wrong sizing.)

I mainly got it because my wife and I have a dust-mite allergy and cleaning the floor with water or HEPA vacuum can help. We've replaced it with a much more expensive (and totally manual) hizero[1] wet vacuum, and it's great. Also, we have tile floors so wet always cleans better than a vacuum (and wet pads need to be cleaned/replaced way too often on a robo-vacuum).

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=og8lhk3oZe8

Re: I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

#40

Post by StavrosK » Mon, Mar 16, 2020, 1:15 PM UTC

dharma1 wrote: post #32

I've had the Xiaomi one for a couple of years, the one with lidar. It's great. Used to love watching the app as the little guy gets to work and the map starts building realtime. It runs Ubuntu, you can root it. And even get spotify running on it. https://github.com/dgiese/dustcloud https://medium.com/@anxodio/how-to-get-spotify-working-on-yo...

Is rooting it worth it? I have one but I haven't bothered with rooting it yet. It would be worth it if I could start-stop it locally, as the app has to go through China and the latency is ~2 seconds, which is terrible.