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I am mesmerized by our new robotic vacuum (2019)

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

#111

Post by Goz3rr »

chewxy wrote: post #8

A good way to explore the algorithms of the robot is to set it out to run in the night. At the entrance of the room, set a high obstruction. Set up a tripod. Take long exposure photos every minute or so. Then turn on the lights/wait till day time. Take another photo. Overlay the photos in an editor program. Spot the missing areas. EDIT: here are some examples by other people: https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robot…

The Xiaomi ones map out and display their path in the app, no long exposure photos needed

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

#112

Post by Eric_WVGG »

mdszy wrote: post #71
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Come on" what? It happens all the time. You just countered my list with a list of "this usually doesn't happen" responses. But sometimes they do, and it adds up. And don't get me started on eBay, where about 15% of stuff I've bought has gotten lost somewhere in the void.

"I might be mildly inconvenienced so it's 100% necessary for me to support a company that abuses its workers, sorry guys :/"

I don't like it. I also don't have time to run all over town (or web) trying to find a highly specific bicycle seat post, or go to every sporting goods store to get the one brand of bouldering chalk I like, or every housewares store shopping for the specific coffee grinder that will fit in my 300sq-foot apartment.

Maybe I should go Thoreau and live in a cabin, but until then I'm very busy. I do a lot of other things to adapt my life to try and improve the general world, but ecommerce habits just isn't making the cut yet.

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

#113

Post by wyre »

Eric_WVGG wrote: post #65
klingonopera wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> " Will I have to register an account? Will I have to take time unsubscribing from the email lists they sign me up for?" Registering an account would shoo me away too, but with PayPal and a study that showed this'll scare 75% of potential customers away, that mostly seems to be a thing of the past. Subscription lists in the EU have been greatly reduced by GDPR. Some still offend this, granted, but they are occuring…

"Come on" what? It happens all the time. You just countered my list with a list of "this usually doesn't happen" responses. But sometimes they do, and it adds up. And don't get me started on eBay, where about 15% of stuff I've bought has gotten lost somewhere in the void.

When I stopped using Amazon two years ago I started using ebay almost exclusively. I've never received the wrong item or have had things gotten lost. Maybe I'm just lucky.

Even if thats the case, I would rather have an item get lost and wait for it to get reshipped than my experience with Amazon mailing me the wrong product and then waiting to mail it back, get a refund, and then order the right product.

When I'm on a site who's checkout doesn't complete, I spent a minute looking for another seller and buy it from them. I would rather use a minute looking somewhere else then waiting a few days because I have to return the wrong product to Amazon.

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

#114

Post by munificent »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #103
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...

> you can root it. And even get spotify running on it Some might ask why you'd want Spotify on your vacuum? I would have it play Dolly Parton's "(Working) 9 to 5" on loop whenever it's running. I feel like that would be hilarious forever. Other suggestions welcome.

Kraftwerk – We Are the Robots

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

#115

Post by munificent »

newforms wrote: post #81

My brother inlaw had a Roomba after testing several of these. He went out one day and came back several hours later to find his dog had defecated on the floor and the robo-vac had smeared the entire downstairs with poo. The vac was never the same after that

In the vacuum's defense, I wouldn't be either.

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

#116

Post by wpietri »

mdszy wrote: post #71
Eric_WVGG wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Come on" what? It happens all the time. You just countered my list with a list of "this usually doesn't happen" responses. But sometimes they do, and it adds up. And don't get me started on eBay, where about 15% of stuff I've bought has gotten lost somewhere in the void.

"I might be mildly inconvenienced so it's 100% necessary for me to support a company that abuses its workers, sorry guys :/"

Can you help me understand how you know the other companies are better?

There's no denying that Amazon is known for being not great to workers, especially warehouse staff who are hired as contractors. But long before Amazon existed I did temp factory and warehouse work for a couple of summers. I promise you that also varied from miserable to criminal. I have no reason to think a random vendor is better than Amazon here.

Reasonable people could differ, but my current thinking is I'm better off pressuring Amazon, who at least has a brand they care about, than to swap to whatever anonymous company is doing US fulfillment for a random Chinese manufacturer.

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

#117

Post by soperj »

munificent wrote: post #114
bonestamp2 wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> you can root it. And even get spotify running on it Some might ask why you'd want Spotify on your vacuum? I would have it play Dolly Parton's "(Working) 9 to 5" on loop whenever it's running. I feel like that would be hilarious forever. Other suggestions welcome.

Kraftwerk – We Are the Robots

Dan Mangan - Robots ~ "Robots need love too..."

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

#118

Post by systemtest »

I've owned a mid-segment Roomba in 2019 for about 48 hours. The downsides included aggressively bumping into my thin-legged chairs, moving them for a couple of centimeters before coming to a stop. Not being able to vacuum black carpet. Not being able to vacuum dark rooms, so I either have to leave all the lights on when I leave or leave the curtains open (thus letting in cold). It broke the delicate moulding at the base of the radiators by ramming into it. It would distribute the coconut fibers of the doormat all over the house. It would go under the bed but would not be able to get out. And I had to enable 2.4Ghz WiFi after all these years. Which was troublesome because my iPhone was connected to the 5Ghz network and it tries to copy your iPhone network to the Roomba.

Returned it. Doing a 15 minute vacuum every Saturday morning is easier for me than to deal with all this, and it keeps the house tidy during the week.

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

#119

Post by systemtest »

chewxy wrote: post #8

A good way to explore the algorithms of the robot is to set it out to run in the night. At the entrance of the room, set a high obstruction. Set up a tripod. Take long exposure photos every minute or so. Then turn on the lights/wait till day time. Take another photo. Overlay the photos in an editor program. Spot the missing areas. EDIT: here are some examples by other people: https://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robot…

The Roomba e5 I briefly owned only worked with all the lights on.

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

#120

Post by kube-system »

Too many people make the mistake of assuming that a robot should solve the problem the same way that humans do.

You have to into the account the respective strengths and weaknesses of humans and robots.

I can easily best a robot at sensing the layout of my living room, but a robot can easily best me at perseverance.

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