I love tech. I love robotics. So you’d think I love Roomba. Sadly, I hate him/her.
Why?
Roomba should be navigating cleanable areas in a thorough, methodological way. Rather, my Roomba has been mysteriously programmed to find me and bother me. Some diabolical engineer at iRobot, whom I don’t know but must be 2+ degrees connected to me on LinkedIn, is probably ROFL as you read this. Look I have two active boys, I don’t need another whiny ankle-biter nagging me by my feet.
So I usually pick him/her up, back to the messy kitchen where he/she’s needed, and usually within minutes Roomba’s found me and bothering me again. It’s unfortunately turned into a pathetic joke within my house. It’s like Murphy’s Law meets Gremlins.
So I usually turn on Roomba after I leave the house, for reasons that are now obvious to you, the reader. One day I had to run back into the house because I forgot something, and sure enough, Roomba was on the other side of my front door, bumping into it, NOT letting me in. Note to self (and apologies to my neighbors): Yelling at Roomba doesn’t work. Note to above-mentioned iRobot engineer: Please spec that feature v2.