Labour-saving but not time-saving
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (382329)
Rockingham, Australia
March 25, 2020 10:10am CST
We bought one of those robotic vacuum cleaners. Our friend has one and, after watching hers, we were very impressed and eventually ordered one for ourselves. However, the instruction booklet is in Chinese and, although you can open an English translation on google, you can’t print it. And so far it hasn't been very helpful.
Our friend’s machine ‘talks’ to her but in English saying things like ‘finished’ or ‘docking now’. Ours talks in Chinese at the moment. We’re still working on teaching her English.
We should be able to give her instructions via the phone but, at the moment, we’re still working on that too. However, we can operate her manually.
She is fascinating to watch. We trialled her out on the passage which opens to a bigger area at one end. She mapped out the area first, working round the boundaries then went back and forth till she had covered the whole area. When she had finished cleaning, she toddled up the passage, turned herself around, backed up to the docking station to recharge then called out ‘FINISHED’ - but in Chinese.
So, while she has saved me the labour of having to actually do my own vacuuming, I haven’t saved any time at all as I’m too enthralled with watching her.
27 people like this
28 responses
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
So far it has picked up a good amount of fluff. There are always long strands of my hair in places too and it seems to be picking up all of them. Being round, it's not going to get right into the corners but I don't mind doing them from time to time.
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91126)
• United States
25 Mar 20
Giving it a name is a great idea!!
2 people like this
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
@Marilynda1225 Vince has been calling it Roger but the voice is female. Maybe Sadie would suit her.
@FourWalls (86775)
• United States
25 Mar 20
I didn’t care for mine, either. The cleaning process is a nightmare for an asthmatic, so I went back to a regular vacuum.
2 people like this
@FourWalls (86775)
• United States
26 Mar 20
@JohnRoberts -- dam, or it sucks? (Actually, both in this case.)
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
Females do all the housework. (That should get a reaction, she thinks) haha @MALUSE Of course, you're absolutely right. It should be 'it' but sometimes we like to anthropomorphise these things. 'It' is a bit impersonal for such a clever little appliance.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
25 Mar 20
What powers it? i don't see any power cords although the indicator lights are on.
1 person likes this
@louievill (28846)
• Philippines
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv I see so it's battery operated and the dock is the charger that's connected to the 110-220 ac outlet. I think it's also a good energy saver
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
@louievill We have 240 volt power in Australia. Vince said the input is 100-240 volts and the output 20 volts. So the battery is 20 volts. I hope that makes sense to you. 
1 person likes this
@Marilynda1225 (91126)
• United States
25 Mar 20
It's interesting how those robotic vacuums can map out the area. I have a knock off and it gets stuck all the time. It's more effort to keep turning it around than actually dragging out the big vacuum and doing it myself.
Hope your little robot learns English so you can communicate 
2 people like this
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
I'm not sure what a knock off is. Is it a brand name? We haven't had this one get stuck yet but it's only done 'easy' rooms so far. The lounge will be a test for it.
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
25 Mar 20
We use big robotic vacuums in our city swimming pools. It was really interesting to watch them when we first bought them and put them in our pools. They spend the first day "learning" the shape of the pool they're in through GPS mapping. And now, each night, when instructed, they crawl down into the pool, vacuum all night, and then crawl back out of the pool in the morning and dock themselves on the docking station we set up. Then when my staff comes in, they empty and clean the collection bags inside the unit to remove all the trash and debris. It is really fascinating to see the robotic vacuums in action! We can even command the vacuums to only run in certain areas of the pool if we want to! Our vacuums have the option of French or English. Every now and then, our staff will "prank" us and change the language to French!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128837)
• Gainesville, Florida
28 Mar 20
@JudyEv It is quite fascinating to watch. And she talks when she is about to go into the pool, and when she comes out of the pool. And since this all takes place at night, it would definitely scare anyone walking by in the dark who suddenly heard our robotic pool vacuum start talking!
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
It's incredible, isn't it? We both watch it with big smiles on our faces. I'm sure she'd like to roll her eyes at us and tell us to push off and let her get on with her work. 
I'd love to see yours climbing down into the pool by themselves. Wouldn't that freak out a burglar if they happened along at the right time? To suddenly see the vacuum cleaner heading to the pool by itself.
I'd love to see yours climbing down into the pool by themselves. Wouldn't that freak out a burglar if they happened along at the right time? To suddenly see the vacuum cleaner heading to the pool by itself. 1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (109841)
• Los Angeles, California
25 Mar 20
A new entertainment for you.
2 people like this
@SophiaMorros (5044)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
25 Mar 20
It might be easier if you just learned Chinese! I suspect one of those would drive all of our pets crazy.
2 people like this
@SophiaMorros (5044)
• Belews Creek, North Carolina
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv I've seen video of a baby going for a ride on one
1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209033)
• United States
26 Mar 20
Your post made me laugh... Look at the bright side, you may soon be learning Chinese. I have one of those, but hair got wrapped around the rollers..and it is not working so well at the moment. I am thinking of turning it on to amuse the cat though!
. Look at the bright side, you may soon be learning Chinese. I have one of those, but hair got wrapped around the rollers..and it is not working so well at the moment. I am thinking of turning it on to amuse the cat though!1 person likes this
@snowy22315 (209033)
• United States
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv That would be hysterical..Nico would probably think it was a monster! Most cats are afraid of vacs anyway.
1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
25 Mar 20
I guess you will have to learn Chinese in order to communicate with her No, I hope can you can change the language to English. We don't have a robotic vacuum cleaner, and I am not sure how our dog would react if we bought one.
No, I hope can you can change the language to English. We don't have a robotic vacuum cleaner, and I am not sure how our dog would react if we bought one.1 person likes this
@Porcospino (31365)
• Denmark
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv I can imagine that how that looks When we pass a robotic lawn mower our dog barks like crazy. He might react the same way if we buy a robotic vacuum cleaner.
When we pass a robotic lawn mower our dog barks like crazy. He might react the same way if we buy a robotic vacuum cleaner.1 person likes this
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
25 Mar 20
I wonder if these vacuum cleaners are available in Romania, too. I would have fun with them, for sure.
1 person likes this
@rappeter13 (8608)
• Romania
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv I have too search for them. Thanks!
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135847)
• Marion, Ohio
25 Mar 20
After a little bit you will start just sending it off to work. My uses a series of beeps to tell me stuff.
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (135847)
• Marion, Ohio
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv It is. My newest one does better than my first one at not getting stuck which was my biggest complaint with the old one.
1 person likes this
@Lavanya15 (12888)
• Chennai, India
26 Mar 20
I read lot of information about robotic vacuum cleaner. But not buy or use anything still now. Can I know this vacuum cleaners really working good?? Are you get satisfaction with it.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (382329)
• Rockingham, Australia
26 Mar 20
@Lavanya15 Yes, I am quite happy with it, thanks.
@Lavanya15 (12888)
• Chennai, India
26 Mar 20
@JudyEv Means are you happy on using those.
1 person likes this
