MIT Engineers Rodney Brooks and Colin Angle used their personal credit cards to launch iRobot in 1990. Helen Greiner, also from the MIT AI Lab joined shortly thereafter. The robots for the first decade or so were part science project part custom design engineering for companies and governments. They built a small robot for the Japanese Ministry of Trade, and a mine sweeper for DOD (they still build military robots, in fact several are now in service in Afghanistan and Iraq). Their first real consumer product was a toy, my Real Baby. Using the cost consciousness from dealing with the toy manufacturers, they launched the Roomba in 2003. It has been joined by a mopping unit called Scooba; they've even created a gutter sweeper (Looj).
I've had a number of Roombas over the years, and each time I've upgraded I'm always impressed at how much the next generation has progressed. The 500 series is the quietest model I have used yet, and it benefits from the feedback and refinements of the robots before it. We have tile throughout most of the house, with carpet in the living room and bedroom. The Roomba cleans it all, and I've never had a problem with it getting stuck on normal surfaces. I have had it try to eat a lamp cord, but after I "Roomba Proofed" the house (tied up cords, etc) I never had another issue. It goes over the bathroom rugs without issue- I don't know how it would handle rugs with large tassels however. I just treat it like a regular vacuum (ie you wouldn't put your Hoover on a Turkish rug with 6" tassels) and it works just fine.
I love the fact that it's so small- with 3" or so of clearance it can go under dressers, under the bed, and under the coffee table with no effort. It also does a great job of grabbing hair and dust bunnies off the floor, no spreading the dirt around at all. This model comes with an intelligent scheduling feature, so you can have do the vacuuming while you're gone. It also can find it's charging station and dock itself, so it's ready for the next day. It makes worrying about keeping your floors free from dirt a thing of the past.
One of the hallmarks of truly exceptional engineering is that it makes something very complicated, very easy for the end user. To get Roomba to clean, you press one button, aptly titled "Clean". This Roomba talks! It walks you through the setup, and tells you when there's a problem- no more running to the manual to figure out what the beeps mean. There's also new virtual walls called Lighthouses. They work in two ways- one they force the Roomba to completely vacuum one room before moving on to the next, and secondly to create invisible barriers to areas that Roomba will not cross. Overall this is a great vacuum, and it makes me wonder why I did it the hard way for some many years.
Some additional improvements over previous models include:
- 33% Larger Filtration Unit
- 33% Larger Dust Bin
- Faster Brush Speed
- Better Suction
Sources
Inc Magazine
iRobot
and see if you can find one at eBay:
 New iRobot Roomba 550 Bagless Robotic Vacuum cleaner  US $299.98
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 NEW iRobot Roomba 550 Bagless Robotic Vacuum US $289.95
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 New iRobot Roomba 550 Bagless Robotic Vacuum cleaner US $277.00
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 iRobot Roomba 550 Robotic Cleaner Vacuum Cleaning Robot US $319.97
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 iRobot Roomba 550 Bagless Robotic Vacuum Cleaner LK US $275.00
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 NEW IROBOT ROOMBA 550 ROBOTIC VACUUM CLEANEREXTRAS 560 US $269.85
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 NEW IROBOT ROOMBA 560 ROBOTIC VACUUM CLEANER 570 550 US $318.85
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 New iRobot Roomba 550 Robotic Vacuum Cleaning Robot US $329.00
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 NEW iRobot Roomba 550 Robotic Cleaner Vacuum Robot US $314.99
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Here are the current prices on Amazon:
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iRobot 500 Series Roomba Vacuum-Cleaning Robot with On-Board Scheduling List Price: $399.00 Sale Price: $288.85 Average Rating:   |
![HQRP 3300mAh APS Battery for iROBOT Roomba 550 / 560 / 570 / 580 [Vacuum Cleaning Robot] Replacement plus HQRP Mousepad](http://qualitylasts.com/images/i/41NLz0247FL._SL75_.jpg "Roomba 550 Review") |
HQRP 3300mAh APS Battery for iROBOT Roomba 550 / 560 / 570 / 580 [Vacuum Cleaning Robot] Replacement plus HQRP Mousepad Sale Price: $49.91 |
![HQRP 3300mAh APS Battery for iROBOT Roomba 510 / 530 / 535 / 540 [Vacuum Cleaning Robot] Replacement](http://qualitylasts.com/images/i/31guuY7lJYL._SL75_.jpg "Roomba 550 Review") |
HQRP 3300mAh APS Battery for iROBOT Roomba 510 / 530 / 535 / 540 [Vacuum Cleaning Robot] Replacement Sale Price: $49.91 |
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iRobot Roomba 550 2009 Edition Vacuum Cleaning Robot with On-Board Scheduling, 2 Extra Filters, 2 Auto Virtual Walls and Extra Brushes Sale Price: $289.99 Average Rating:  |
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PWR+ Battery for iRobot Roomba 500 510 530 532 535 540 550 560 562 570 580 R3 80501 Replacement Sale Price: $39.90 |
