iRobot Roomba 550 Robot Vacuum: A cleaner without social problems

I had ordered my new house helper the IRobot Roomba 550 in November 2011 but only received it just before Chinese New Year due to overwhelming demand.
My Wife and I considered the following factors before purchasing this unit:

1. We are both working so it is not easy to always maintain that level of House Maintenance especially when you are tired on the weekends.
2. Even if it could keep the floors 80% clean, it would be better than 0% clean.
3. It can be scheduled to clean so it can work while we are working too (:D).
4. Freeing up one cleaning task meant we could put our energy into other tasks  
5. Being a robot, it doesn't have the usual social problems with maids: no need to train on how to do work,  no need to worry if the maid steals or if she brings her boyfriend back to our place secretly for hanky panky etc.

The guy who delivered the unit spent some time to demonstrate how it works and showed us the parts that need to be maintained. I had initially ordered the Roomba 560 Model with an additional Aerovac bin (optional for the 560 model) but the guy offered us the Roomba 550 as it was essentially the same thing with a different colour and with more accessories (more brushes and filters).  
The box looks like so (a simple but attractive package):

What's in the box? The Roomba unit itself that looks like a very fat frisbee (seen here with the docking base and charger (world voltage 120 to 240V so no need for a voltage transformer)).
Practical Tip #1: Charge the Roomba for 16 hours before using it for the first time.

 ..And the Accessories:

Clockwise (From top left): 3 x Aerovac bin filters (blue), the brush cleaning tools(red), The manuals & starter guides, 2 x Virtual Walls (yes, i know they resemble liquor flasks) and finally 2 spare sets of Roomba brushes

The below pic shows the bottom view of the Roomba. Here you can see the navigation wheels,  triple blade attachment that helps to sweep dirt into its path to clean and the chamber that contains the cleaning brushes.

 Opening the chamber, you can remove the cleaning brushes for maintenance or to replace.

 Aerovac Bin
The Aerovac bin is an optional accessory with other models but comes standard with the Roomba 550. The image below shows you how to detach the bin from the Roomba Unit (Press the button and pull towards you)

The Aerovac bin (seen below) stores the dust, dirt and hair etc. that the Roomba unit cleans from the floor. Notice the Aerovac bin filter (in blue) fixed inside the bin. After 1 or 2 cleaning sessions,  take this bin out to empty the dust clumps into the rubbish bin else the next time the Roomba runs, it won't pick up as much dirt.

Virtual Walls (Setting the boundaries):
The Roomba 550 comes with 2 virtual wall units (no, no, they still remind me of liquor flasks). Virtual walls come in handy when you want to set up barriers just before rooms or areas that you do not want the Roomba to go into. For e.g. in front of stairs, in front of bathrooms etc. In my case, I use it to set boundaries to restrict where the Roomba can go (say only half of the house) so that the Roomba can concentrate on cleaning in that particular area.
Of course, you can alternatively put a big object to block the Roomba from going to a particular room (DUH!).

Top view of the Virtual wall:

As shown above, the direction of the arrow embedded on the top beside the green light is where the beam will emit from and you can activate the beam by toggling the switch on the right away from the Off position. 

If you open the casing (as below), you can see that each virtual wall unit is powered by 2 "C" cell batteries. I've been advised to use Alkaline batteries instead of rechargeable (e.g. NiMH - Nickel Metal Hydride) batteries as they can maintain the current needed to power the Virtual Wall unit better.

Alkaline batteries I've been told can last an average of 4 months (depending on your usage) before you need to replace them.

Real Life Performance:
Ad-hoc Cleaning: 
To start cleaning on an ad-hoc basis, just press the round "CLEAN" silver button on the top panel of the Roomba and the Roomba will move out of the base station and do its magic. It will automatically navigate around the obstacles it finds and slows down when it senses it is heading for impact with an object in front of it. When the Roomba's batteries are running low, it will find its way back to the Docking station to recharge.


Scheduled Cleaning: 
You can set the any day and Time of the week that you want the Roomba to run (of course this assumes you have already set the clock correctly on the Roomba).
How to setup a schedule?

As shown above, Hold down the "Schedule" button with one finger and use another to click on the "Day" button to set which day of the week you want it to run. To set the time, while still holding down the "Schedule" button, Use another finger to press on the "Hour" button to set the hour followed by the Minute button to set the exact minutes. When finished, release the "Schedule" button and that particular schedule is set.
In this way, you can program the Roomba to function any day of the week even if you are not at home, it will go by itself. Now that's what I call Automation!

The following video is a demonstration on how the Roomba cleans and navigates around obstacles:

Spot cleaning: 
If you want to clean a very small area of say within a 2 metre radius, you can make use of the Spot cleaning function. Just press the semi circular "Spot" button above the "CLEAN" button on top of the Roomba to activate this function.
The following video shows how spot cleaning works:

Verdict: So far the experience has been positive. The Roomba is simple to use and yields decent results.  The floors are mostly free from dust but not all the dirt on the floor is picked up all the time as it depends on the movement pattern that the Roomba decides to take. Due to its size, it cannot reach into tight corners and cramps areas like behind room doors. If you do not find it in its docking station when you get back from work, you may have to hunt around the house for it. It has gotten stuck once into a position that it could not get out from. When that happens, it sounds an alert and a female voice will announce"Error, please move the Roomba to a new location to start" (or something like that).  What influences the final decision for you will probably boil down to the convenience it affords versus how tedious you find the maintenance (of the bins, brushes and batteries) and if it is worth your while. So far, I like the convenience and like the feeling of walking on clean floors. My Personal Rating : 4 out of 5 stars

Practical Tip #2: Remember to make sure there are no small personal items on the floor before you start the cleaning or before the schedule starts so that they don't get sucked up into the Roomba. 

Practical Tip #3: If you do import a Roomba (US voltage) from the US to use in Singapore, you will need to buy a Voltage Step down transformer to step down the 240V power outlet to 120 V else you will fry the unit.

Price: Really depends on where you buy the unit from. If you don't have a distributor near you, you can get it from places like Amazon or other online retailers.

If you live in Singapore, you can get it locally from irobot.com.sg * (official irobot distributor for Singapore) or if you don't mind getting it cheaper from a parallel importer, you can get it from Autovacstore which is where I got my Roomba. For an additional S$11, they offer you their own 1 year warranty. My experience with Autovacstore was very positive. The staff who came to deliver the Roomba was polite. He demo-ed how to use the Roomba, explained about the maintenance and answered all my queries. They also offer other models of robot vacuums if the Roomba 550 is not what you are looking for, check it out here. 

*Do take note that the official local distributor has a strict policy about not entertaining any replacements or repairs if you did not buy the unit from them. You have been warned!   

That wraps up another post. I hope you've enjoyed what you've read so far. If you have any feedback, comments, questions or queries, you can use the comments section at the end of any post and I will try to respond to you as best as I can. Of course, any compliments are welcome ! 

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