i don't have this , but i have seen in my brother's place. it is indeed a robot. does everything by itself. just press start button it goes around picks the trash. no need to bother. it does everything. it makes circles till it cleans the surface. really creative innovation. as for the job given, it executes well. another thing is , it automatically returns to the charger once it is out of energy. we made him as one of our member in our house. it is like little cleaning maid.

OK, so this is just about the coolest vacuum cleaner I've ever seen. The Roomba Discovery is as advertised - it's a circular, low to the ground robot that makes it's way around your house and vacuums automatically. It covers every bit of floor space efficiently, and automatically returns to base to recharge if it starts running out of batteries. I have a 2 year old nephew who has befriended his household's Roomba (or vice versa?). The Roomba doubles as my nephew's playmate, and one of his favorite things to do is to play hide and seek. The other day the Roomba cornered him under the bed which resulted in pure unadulterated terror until his mom could come in and rescue him. Given this odd relationship that has arisen between my nephew and the Roomba, I've been putting some thought into some Rumba "extensions" that might explore this application as a vacuum / play pal. How about a detachable arm that could through a ball? How about recordings of various animals? How about a full on identity with a name and accessories like hats and clip on noses? How about an amplifier that would let parents broach difficult subjects (e.g. "Roomba says NO to drugs!") through the Roomba? The sky, I believe, is the limit for this crazy vacuum cleaner.