Robotic vacuum cleaner

[Vil]

Guys,

Plea for help. Do some of you have a robotic vacuum cleaner ? If so, which brand/model - any recommendations ? So far, I've spot the Roborock S6 MaxV - it has plenty of useful functions, water wiping on top of the vacuum, has great reviews even compared to the popular iRobot Roombas.
As a must it has to have decent level of vacuum cleaning and to support virtual walls. Wiping is nice to have, not really mandatory (and actually very few models AFAIK support both vacuum cleaning and wiping).
The thing is that normally (read pre-pandemic) we use the service of a cleaning lady - she was coming once per week to do full clean. However now, we do not call her anymore given she meets with lot of people and is not what we consider 'safe approach'. But that's not the question/concern here - just asking if you have any ideas/recommendations about the 'robots' ..

[WiseOne]

Robot vacuums are the bomb.

I have a Roomba 860, which has the rubber rollers that are easy to swap out and clean, and no wireless capability to jack up the price unnecessarily. Works great especially if hair that tangles up in conventional brush rollers is a problem for you. At the time I bought it, this was the only model with this feature.

Negatives - the random walk algorithm can be maddeningly inefficient, but it works. You do have to tidy up and get small items and potential Roomba-traps off the floor if you're going to let it do a complete clean. Also, I had to either block areas under furniture or raise some pieces up using shims, because it seems like every piece of furniture I own is exactly the right height for the thing to get underneath and then get stuck. Shaking out a container full of fine dust that's slightly larger in diameter than my widest trash can is probably the biggest negative.

And the biggest negative which applies to all robot vacuums: if you have a puke-prone pet, never ever ever ever EVER run the thing when you're not home. You do not want to see what a robot vacuum will do with a pile of vomit. My sister had that happen the first time she used her robot vacuum. She got rid of it the next day and spent days cleaning up the mess.

[Cortopassi]

I have tried and returned many varieties over the years, just to see the technology. I agree with WiseOne on the random action of Roomba being terribly inefficient.

My favorite was a Neato model, using laser mapping. It figures out the room, and intelligently goes at it in nice straight lines. Did a room in a quarter the time of a random Roomba.

But I have a sunken family room, some ceramic tile, and a second floor, so until these things can go up and down stairs, I will be vacuuming the old fashioned way!

[Vil]

Thanks WiseOne

Negatives - the random walk algorithm can be maddeningly inefficient, but it works.

Models which I have in mind are all in the high-end of the spectrum (and price...) so they all have Lidars to scan rooms, surrounding furniture (and other obstacles) and also are having non-random cleaning models predefined. I've got that random walk algorithms are some 40-50% less efficient (=suboptimal) than the ones that can actively navigate.

And the biggest negative which applies to all robot vacuums: if you have a puke-prone pet,

Well, this is what I understood as well. So far we do not have any mess generating pets, though with small kids one never know .. The thing is the model I've mentioned (Roborock S6 MaxV) has also (on top of Lidars) two front cameras that have some AI behind, all of that is to perform high-speed optical recognition (woaw).. Obviously the issue you mentioned about is common, so one of the images that the robot is pretty much aware of, is pet's poo. What I also liked is that using those 2 cameras (that tend to mimic the mammal's stereoscopic vision, again woaw) together with the manual remote navigation of the robot allows one to check what's going on at home while being away ..

But of course, what I am saying is what I've been infused from the different marketing & ads that I watched. I am still thinking whether we really need all those fancy features, moreover ~700 USD is not an amount that can easily be spent on such gadget, that's for sure.

[Vil]

My favorite was a Neato model, using laser mapping.

Can you please recall which model ? Again falling prey to marketing & ads, they (Neato) claim the D-shape of their robots is more efficient in cleaning corners.. I should stop watching Youtube videos, it seems

[Hal]

If nothing else, it will keep your dog amused
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ2kSMbDj-U

[Cortopassi]

My favorite was a Neato model, using laser mapping.

Can you please recall which model ? Again falling prey to marketing & ads, they (Neato) claim the D-shape of their robots is more efficient in cleaning corners.. I should stop watching Youtube videos, it seems

D4 I believe. Their other big selling point is their brush is significantly larger than round units.

[Kriegsspiel]

[WiseOne]

I wish! My cats are just scared of the thing. I hoped it would serve double duty as a cat toy. There are great youtube videos of cats riding on them.