iRobot Roomba's Virtual Walls and Lighthouses
The best thing about iRobot Roomba is the fact that this tiny piece of innovation comes with
Virtual Walls. The purpose behind this function is to create an invisible barrier that the Roomba will not
cross. The walls can be set to block a certain portion that goes as far as eight feet long.
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The Virtual Wall beam is shaped like a keyhole. A beam is set to create a small halo that prevents
the robot from bumping into the wall. A larger cone-shaped section then impedes the cleaner from
going into places you marked as restricted.
The higher models, such as the iRobot Roomba 535, come with Virtual Wall
Lighthouses that were created to help the Roomba navigate around your home, find the Home Base, and
allow the Roomba to clean one room before proceeding to its next task. When you set the robot to
the Virtual Wall mode, you can indicate areas that off-limit and assure yourself that the cleaner
will never cross the line.
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When it is set to the Lighthouse mode, the Virtual Wall Lighthouse helps Roomba navigate around
the room and clean an area at a time. All you need to do is place the lighthouses in the doorway between the two
rooms. Roomba will begin to clean the first room before it navigates to the next room. Once the Roomba has
completed cleaning, it uses the lighthouses as guide to navigate itself back to its Homebase.
The generations of Roomba units continue to improve itself. Its ultimate goal is to make
cleaning easier for housewives and homemakers.
How to Operate the iRobot Roomba 535
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1.The iRobot Roomba 535 must first be carried to wherever you would like to start.
2. Then, pressing the Power button.
3. Press the Clean or Spot button, depending on which type of cleaning you prefer.
4. Included in the Roomba is a Dock button that allows the owner to instruct the robot to dock with its
Homebase.
5. There is also the Scheduler accessory which allows the robot to begin cleaning automatically at the
desired time set by the owner.
6. When the Clean or Spot button is pressed, the Roomba starts its work.
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The makers behind this technology have made sure that using the iRobot Roomba is easy. Just to
prove to you how simple it is, take a look at the steps:
The contact bumper installed in the machine is able to detect walls and furniture so that it does not bump into it
or break anything. The Virtual Walls can also be used to limit the areas. The infrared signal set by the Walls
tells the Roomba which areas to cover. The infrared sensors found at the bottom of the unit prevent the mechanism
from falling off stairs and ledges. They also have additional dirt sensors that detect dirty spots so that these
areas can be cleaned thoroughly.
The design is based on the philosophy of Rodney Brooks, an MIT researcher and iRobot CTO. He believes that
robots should be like insects that are equipped with simple control mechanisms tuned to their environments. The
result behind this principle is the best cleaning aid that any household could possibly have.
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US $132.00
