A few weeks ago, I noticed that it was bugging me that the floors in my home were getting dirty.  I could swiffer and vacuum, but my energy was flagging, and I need to be mindful of when I vacuum so I don’t disturb the neighbors with my occasionally odd hours.  So, in true technomancer fashion, I delegated… and got a robot to do it.

Roomba 690 on Amazon

This vacuum uses multiple methods (sweeping, brushing, vacuuming) to clean my hardwood and carpet floors.  I still think the carpets could use some time with a real vacuum cleaner periodically, as I don’t think this vacuum is as powerful for getting stuff out from between fibers, but it definitely gets the visible dirt and small detritus without requiring me to do much more than push a button, whether it is on the Roomba itself or the app on my phone.  As long as I keep the floor picked up in my home, I can even get it to start vacuuming from anywhere I have cell service!

This thing even goes under my furniture to clean, making it so that I don’t have to move as much around or bend at uncomfortable angles to get the entire rooms.  It also came with a “Virtual Wall Barrier” tower, which makes the robot turn back before going into certain areas.  Since I only have one at the moment, I’ve set it to guard my 3D printer from being jostled unnecessarily.

Once it’s done cleaning the main room, it makes it’s way back to it’s base station and recharges, so I don’t have to go find it and plug it in myself.  When I have it clean side rooms, I have to pick it up and carry it back, but it’s still better than having to lug the regular vacuum around, and I spend less time having to vacuum it myself.  It takes longer to vacuum than vacuuming it myself, but my hands-on time is greatly reduced.

I’ve noticed that it has improved my mood to have the floors cleaned more regularly, and I feel like I’d be more confident in inviting people over for game nights on shorter notice, as I don’t have to spend a bunch of time cleaning the floors in addition to all the other chores of cleaning.  I can multitask with the Roomba cleaning the floor while I still handle the other things that require manual work (for now).

Now, if only I could find a skin to make it look like a Farscape DRD…