What is Roomba Discovery?

A robotic vacuum cleaner that can vacuum your house unattended. It is a MAR (mobile autonomous robot) that can move around, make its own decisions and react to its environment. That's the geeky description. Average non-geek description: it's a vacuum that you can set and forget. It cleans hard floors and short to medium pile carpets and can do this while you're at work. It will not eat the cat, run over the palm tree in the corner of a room or electrocute itself on a power cord. It has a particle bin that you empty into the trash bin and doesn't use disposable bags. It uses a rechargeable NiMH battery and can run about 1.5 hours on a charge. And it sucks, in a good way ;). Not bad, hey? Roomba is available at everyday places like Target, Linens N’ Things, Amazon.com and Best Buy.

Above: Rooma Discovery, Sammy the cat and his catnip ball.

The Discovery Models

The Discovery line is comprised of four models introduced in August 2004 and available in most stores by September 2004. They are: Roomba Red, Roomba, Roomba Discovery and Roomba Discovery SE. They range in price from $149 to $299. All have standard cleaning mode (the robot determines the room size and runs long enough to clean that room), spot cleaning mode, a Dirt Detector function, use an APS battery and come with one or more virtual walls (to contain the robot to an area or room). Roomba Red 4100, being the least expensive at $149, comes with one virtual wall, a 7 hour charger, and has spot cleaning mode. It doesn't come with a remote control or iRobot's docking/charging station. The rest of the model lineup add a max cleaning mode, come with two virtual walls, have a three hour charger and come with a remote control. The $199 Roomba 4105 (sometimes called Roomba Sage since it's sage-colored) has a 3 hour charger, spot and max cleaning modes and a remote. The $279 Roomba Discovery 4210 reviewed here has all the bells and whistles, and adds on a docking/charging station. If Roomba is in the same room as the docking station, it will return to the charger when done cleaning or low on power. The SE 4220 is the same as the Discovery but it has a nicer paint job, according to iRobot and costs $299.

In the box

Inside the attractive and well-designed package you'll find Roomba, a battery, charger brick, wall mount, docking station, two spare filters, one spare side spinning brush, a cleaning tool, two virtual wall units, a remote control and documentation. You must supply your own AA batteries for the remote and two D batteries per virtual wall.

What does it look like?

A flying saucer. If you've seen the original Roomba models introduced in 2002 (base model) and 2003 (Pro and Elite models), you'll recognize Roomba Discovery right away since they look very similar. The Roomba Discovery models are approximately 13" in diameter and  less than 3" tall. They can get in most anywhere and clean thanks to their low profile. The buttons and controls are all on the top surface and they have two drive wheels shod in knobby rubber underneath. You'll find two counter rotating brushes underneath, one hirsute with bristles and the other a rubber roller with splines.

Roomba's underbelly. The battery is the yellow block. The two yellow tabs by the blue rubber bar are the release levers for the brush cover.

Is it loud?

The Roombas are much quieter than regular vacuum cleaners and quieter than the Sharper Image eVac. While the eVac sounds like a vacuum, Roombas sound more like electric motorized devices of some sort. The Discovery series sound a bit deeper-voiced while the original Roombas sound a tad whiney. Our cat, who is terrified of regular vacuum cleaners doesn't mind the Discovery at all. In fact he sometimes forgets to get out of its way! Don't worry, Roomba has never hurt him since it's designed to gently bump into objects and turn away.

Does it suck?

Yes, as any decent vacuum should! Those of you who are familiar with the original Roomba will be thrilled to hear that the Discovery's vacuum is 2x more powerful. And while the Sharper Image eVac has an even more powerful vacuum motor that beat the original Roomba in cleaning, the Roomba Discovery beats both of them, getting hard and carpeted floors cleanest.

Roomba Discovery uses a lower powered vacuum since it must reply on battery power. While our 12 amp upright Hoover can use as much juice as it likes (even tripping circuit breakers on some occasions), robo-vacs must be power-frugal because they rely on battery power. Despite its low powered motor, Discovery manages to beat the competition because it uses a set of counter-rotating brushes and a rubber squeegee skirt to pick up dirt and move it into the vacuum inlet. These brushes aren't your average Hoover beater bars, rather one is entirely covered with bristles and the other is a splined rubbery-plastic bar. Speaking of brushes, these are easy to remove for cleaning and don't amass a huge amount of hair compared to the original Roomba.

Roomba can clean fairly close to walls and furniture and it gets the nasty bits that hug close to walls using its spinning side brush which whisks dirt away from walls and into the vacuum inlet.

Does it play nice with furniture, children and your kitty?

How does Roomba deal with your coffee table, dining chairs and the cat? It runs into them—really. Since ultrasonic and visual sensors are still quite expensive, Roomba uses touch sensors in its front bumper. Think of a small scale bumper car meandering around your house. The front bumper is spring loaded and has a flexible plastic cover so it rarely (if ever) damages furniture. In fact it hasn’t left a single dent or mark on our antique furniture. Should Roomba bump into you or your loved ones, it will be a gentle bump that won't hurt a bit. Roomba does not move in reverse, so it doesn't need rear bump sensors. Instead it can turn in place 180 degrees when it needs to turn around. Other robot vacs go in reverse, so why not Roomba? iRobot designed the brushes to work best when the vac is moving forward, that's why.

How does it know where it's been?

It doesn't. Robot vacs in the ~$1,500 to $2,000 price range use room mapping and sonar sensors to figure out where they are, where they've been and where they're going next. The next generation Electrolux Trilobite ($1,800) will also use visual sensors to recognize a room and its objects. Since these technologies are expensive, you won't find them in affordable home robots sold at your local Target or Best Buy-- maybe in 5 years! Since the folks at iRobot also design the PackBot, a robotic mine finder used by the US government in Afghanistan, they put the same mine sweeping pattern to work for everyday household sweeping. The Roomba comes pre-programmed: simply hit the Clean button and the vacuum starts working in ever-widening circles until it hits a wall. At that point it will start hugging the wall, cleaning all the way, until it covers the perimeter and then it will cut across the floor to finish cleaning the room. It uses these patterns plus some randomness to cover your entire floor. Randomness is a good thing, trust me. The Sharper Image e Vac lacks randomness and thus can get stuck in a loop, covering a certain pattern over and over while missing an area or two.

Does it get stuck?

As long as you tuck rug fringes under the rug or pick up small area rugs, and keep stray electrical cords out of Roomba's reach it will very rarely get stuck. If you do have several area rugs, fringed carpets and cables you'd rather not pick up or tuck away, consider the Sharper Image e Vac instead. Roomba uses some intelligent escape algorithms to get out of tight spots and can even turn the vacuum motor off if it needs to get off of rug fringes or other items that have tangled in the brushes. Our house has lots of furniture, including a coffee table in the center of the living room and plenty of dining chairs, and Roomba always works its way around these items, cleaning all the way.

Dirt Detector: It knows where the dirt is!

We take this for granted: we see dirt, therefor we clean. Current robo-vacs don't see dirt and they can seem awfully dumb as they blithely cross over a very dirty spot without doing something about it. But the new Roomba Discovery series models all have a Dirt Detector, and it works! If Roomba encounters a particularly dirty spot, its blue Dirt Detector light will illuminate and it will spend extra time cleaning that area until the dirt is gone. It really works! How does it do this? It uses sound sensors (transducers, like those used in guitar pickups) to "hear" dirt hitting the vacuum intake.

Clearance

Since Roomba is only 3" high, it can get under nearly every piece of furniture that has legs. It requires 4" or greater clearance and fits under our dressers, beds, coffee table and reaches right into our dusty kitchen kickboards. While many of us are afraid to look under the bed, lest we meet the dread dust monster, Roomba is fearless and dives right in. Because of Roomba's low clearance it gets the highest CPR (coverage per room) rating of any vacuum, regular or robotic.

Like the original Roomba and Sharper Image e Vac, Roomba Discovery is very intelligent about getting out of tight places and rarely gets stuck or trapped. Generally, the only things that will get it stuck are long rug fringes and thin cables. If it does get stuck, it first attempts escape maneuvers and turns off the brushes. Should that fail, it will beep to let you know it needs help and turn itself off.

Battery life and charging times

Most robo-vacs don't clean for longer than an hour on a charge and take 6 to 12 hours to recharge, depending on the brand and model. The original Roomba could clean for an hour and took 12 hours to charge, though you could purchase a fast charger and spare batteries. The Roomba (Sage), Roomba Discovery and Roomba Discovery SE models can clean for a solid 1.5 hours (iRobot claims 2 hours) and recharge in only 3 hours. Excellent! That's enough staying power to clean a two bedroom, 1200 square foot condo with time to spare. Discovery beats the competition cleanly here! (Note that the $149 Roomba Red comes with a 7 hour charger).

ET, phone home! It returns home to its base to charge

This is getting a little sci-fi, no? This little 'bot can run a cleaning cycle then return to its home base to charge. If it runs low on juice, it will seek out the charger too. Yes, it really works! The catch? Roomba needs to be in the same room with its home base for this to work, since it must detect the home base's IR beam to find its way home. If you have an open floor plan with few obstacles and the Roomba Discovery is in an adjoining room, it may find the home base when power is running low and it senses it needs to charge, but the odds aren't nearly as good.

Comparing Roomba Discovery to the original Rooma

If you've tried or owned one of the original Roomba models, you'll definitely want to check out Discovery. iRobot listened to first generation owners and made some very significant improvements and added some great new features too.  Read our review of the first generation Roomba at http://everydayrobots.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2&Itemid= .

The vacuum is 2x more powerful and does an excellent job. While I wasn't terribly impressed with the original Roomba's cleaning, the Discovery does a great job on hard and carpeted floors.

The original Roomba was a bear to clean and maintain thanks to three compartments which had to be emptied each cleaning cycle, and a brush system that tended to clog up. You got a robot to save time, who wants to spend 30 minutes each week cleaning the robot? Discovery has one dirt container that's easy to empty and a washable filter that pops in and out easily. Unlike the original Roomba, you don't need tools to take out the brushes: simply press two release levers to open the brush cover and pop the brushes out. The axle and cover has been redesigned to prevent hair from wrapping around the axles. The original Roomba's bearings could get hot when wrapped with hair and melt their plastic housing. The redesign means this shouldn't happen with the new Discovery.

The dirt bin is 3x larger on Discovery, so Roomba will make it through a cleaning cycle without you having to stop it and empty the bin.

Discovery has a Dirt Detector and it works! While Roomba had no idea if it was traversing an absolute mess, Discovery does and will clean that mess pronto.

Battery life has been greatly improved: the original Roomba ran for about one hour, then needed twelve hours to charge. You can buy fast chargers for the original Roomba, along with extra batteries but this increases your cash outlay quite a bit. The Discovery (other than the Roomba Red) runs for 1.5 hours or more and re-charges in only three hours, beating every robotic vacuum on the market, even $2,000 models.

The Discovery and Discovery SE will return to their home base and charge when they're done with a cleaning cycle or run low on batteries. Very cool indeed! The drawback is that Roomba really needs to be in the same room as the base station for this to work 100% of the time.

The Discovery can still tangle with area rug fringes just as the old one did, unfortunately, but it is more willing and able to transition onto area rugs. On the original Roomba the cliff sensors sometimes mistook area rugs for the edge of stairs and it would back away.

The spinning side brush has been redesigned. The two-headed bristle brush has bristles that run parallel to the ground in a horizontal fashion. This is an improvement over original Roomba's brushes, which hung down and tended to get curled up in a fetal position from running over rugs.

The tire treads have been redesigned and are thicker and firmer. The wheel encoding sensors look to be located behind the wheelwell in the body housing just behind the wheel. Perhaps they'll require less cleaning.

The original Roomba basic model came in a small and uninspiring box. The Discovery comes in a larger box that's much more attractive. In fact the box is reminiscent of the Apple Powerbook box, with a carry handle, and clean white inner cover that holds all documentation. The packaging and presentation of the product makes for a more stunning gift item.

Comparing the Sharper Image e Vac to the Roomba Discovery

The e Vac gives the original Roomba a serious run for its money, but doesn't beat out the Discovery in our estimates. You can read our very detailed comparison of these two models at http://www.everydayrobots.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=5&Itemid= .

Conclusion

It works, and it works well! Discovery gets floors very clean, even medium pile carpets. In fact, our carpets are so clean that I don't feel a need to do deep vacuuming with the Hoover upright (and I'm a clean-freak).  Roomba can get under most furniture-places many of us rarely clean.  The edge cleaning side brush does a good job of getting dust bunnies and dirt that accumulate next to walls. Thanks to its excellent cleaning and ability to get most anywhere, your house may be cleaner than it's ever been.

Battery life is excellent and should make it through a two to three bedroom house on a charge. Since it recharges in only three hours, it's ready to go in a short period of time. Dirt Detector is a marvel: it's fantastic to find this feature on an affordable unit and it really works. Unlike the average 12 amp upright vac which is noisy as all heck and can trip the 15 amp breakers commonly used in homes, the Roomba is not loud and you won't have to shut off other appliances, TVs or computers before vacuuming.

Caveats: If you have several area rugs, fringed rugs or cables running on the floor, you'll run into problems. You'll have to tuck fringes under the rug or pick up small area rugs, and get those cables away from Roomba's reach. If your house has lots of fringed area rugs, you may want to consider the Sharper Image e Vac which handles these and cables much better.

If you need to clean shag or seriously deep pile rugs, forget affordable robot vacuums as they are not designed to tackle these kinds of rugs.

Since the remote, charging base and virtual walls use IR, they can interfere with each other. The remote will not work if Roomba is within six feet of the base station and may not work when Roomba is very close to a virtual wall's invisible IR beam.

1 Year warranty

Web site: http://www.roombavac.com

Discuss this review at: http://everydayrobots.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6