A new study shows that people emotionally bond with their Roombas, giving names and arbitrary genders to their robotic vacuum cleaners. And gee whiz, they can’t even sleep with these robots! More »
Roombas have evolved over the years into a fairlyimpressive product, except when it comes to corners. Apparently bothered by this, iRobot’s engineers have patented a Roomba with a corner specialty. The secret trick: it’s square.
Ever wonder what the path of a Roomba looks like as it cleans your house? It’s an amazing combination of randomness and precision, as shown by this long-exposure shot.
In animal terms, the Fukitorimushia floor-cleaning robot would be the Roomba’s distant evolutionary ancestor. It wipes instead of vacuums, inches rather than rolls, and generally looks like it wriggled right out of the primordial soup.
