iRobot - Roomba Pro Elite

I've been in the robot vacuum game for awhile. Had an OG Roomba Pro back in 2003, then a Roomba 500 series in 2008, Roborock S6 in 2020, and just got a Roborock Q5 Pro a month ago. The budget models of today are SO GOOD and SO CHEAP, that it is very hard for me to justify any of the higher tier models. I got the Q5 Pro for $139. Considering it has similar features but better cleaning performance than my S6 but costs $450 less than what I paid for the S6, it is the best value option out there imo. While the techie in me enjoys all of the latest features, I think adding pumps, water, and moving base parts is an order of magnitude more complexity and increases the odds of breaking something. My Roomba 500 still runs and it just needed battery replacements and a new vac motor over its 12 years of service. Granted, I have the perspective of having a robot vac for 2 decades, so picking up things on the floor that it'll get stuck on is second nature.

I'm an 83 year old electronics engineer. I'm part of an anti-Roomba cult. In 1963, I built 2 motorized turtle-like creatures, half the size of a modern Roomba, that would enter a room and bounce off objects until they found their way back out. For old times sake, five years ago I bought a 1st generation Roomba at a rummage sale that did the same. My carpets looked like they were vacuumed by a spider, spinning a web while on LSD. It's been done in spider labs. My Roomba was relegated to my carpeted garage, but managed to escape its light barrier. I caught it halfway down my driveway, on its way to the street. I donated it. Unlike Elon Musk, I like Lidars. My newest robot vacuum uses one, plus a camera, and hardly ever collides with anything. It vacuums in (almost) straight lines. DO NOT buy a robot vacuum without BOTH Lidar AND a camera that sees both visible and infrared light, so it can avoid objects in subdued lighting.

The first Roombas did this, but it is no longer possible without an app. Evolution, they call it.