Page 79 - Modern Robotics Building Versatile Macines

REAL-WORLD ROBOTS 59

Roomba’s effectiveness comes from its simple design as well as a combination of
cleaning routines that provides good floor coverage.

products, quality control and reliability are paramount, as iRobot
found when they had to send out a hundred thousand plug-in adapt-
ers to fix a problem with the Roomba’s battery-recharging systems.
Fortunately, engineering and marketing seemed to come together
in an ideal match with Roomba. By 2005, more than 1.2 mil-
lion Roombas had been sold, at about $200 each. Later that year,
Scooba, a robotic mopper, was introduced.
In its more recent Roomba Discovery model, iRobot made a
number of modest improvements to the robot’s cleaning, storage,