Floor Cleaning - Robot-Style

Remember the first time you heard of such a thing as a robot? If you are like most people, you probably imagined the robot would be some kind of C-3PO-like android - a tin man. And then, you probably got to see your first robot on some kind of Discovery Channel programming that was nothing more than a chip-installing arm or a car factory welder. That probably would have been a bit of a downer - a car factory robot is nothing as attractive-looking as what you get to see on the Terminator or in Star Wars. Still, if you kind of liked R2-D2 from Star Wars, chances are really good that you'll kind of like the floor cleaning robot by iRobot called Scooba. Of course, it looks nothing like that cute little blue and silver Star Wars robot; but the little black can on wheels that seems to be able to think a little and to go around cleaning your floor seems to possess a little bit of personality. The cute stubby shape and the fact that it busies itself with such an unambitious job does endear itself to people's hearts.

If you've heard of the Roomba, the smash hit robotic vacuum from the same company that had a bit of character as well, you could be ready for what the Scooba does. The little black can with wheels just diligently goes around your floor (weaving an unpredictable path) all by itself applying soap, brushing and cleaning up with water.The latest Scooba, unlike the earlier models that cost about $500, is quite inexpensive. And it's small enough that it can easily get into spaces that the other heftier models would never have managed.

So how does the Scooba actually work? If you've used a Roomba vacuum, you'll kind of recognize the way the Scooba works as well. Sometimes, it will keep going in a perfectly straight line and you think it's following some kind of predictable logic; until it suddenly changes direction and veers off on a tangent. It'll miss spots that seem close by and head for off-beat spots; and then come back to cover the missed spot later. Leave it to its own devices though, and the Scooba will get everything. When you actually change the dirty water inside, you will be pretty surprised how much dirt it's managed to get off your floors.

Watching the Scooba work can be really entertaining. You'll find that rather than save you any time, the Scooba takes up as much of your time as it would if you did your floor cleaning yourself - because it looks so darned cute going about its job that you won't have the heart to look elsewhere. So is it worth the money it costs? Undoubtedly, it is. But only because it's quite inexpensive at $300. The quality of its work really does leave much to be desired. It really can't get into many places in your average home. You could probably do a much better job with a mop and an hour of free time. But then, it wouldn't really feel like you were living in the future then.