Robot Vacuum Maps Entire Home, Uses Data to Avoid Cleaning the Parts That Need It Most

A Roomba j9+ Combo, which spent its first two hours in a Denver home meticulously mapping every room with millimeter-level LIDAR precision, has been using that data for the past three weeks to navigate efficiently around every piece of dirt in the house. Owner Sandra Navigate, 39, purchased the device after reading reviews praising its 'intelligent navigation' and 'room-by-room cleaning customization.' She did not anticipate that the intelligence would be applied toward avoidance. 'It maps perfectly,' Navigate said, watching the device glide through her living room. 'It knows where every wall, chair, and table leg is. It also apparently knows where every crumb is, because it goes around them.' The vacuum's app shows a comprehensive floor plan of Navigate's home, overlaid with the device's cleaning path. Analysis of the path data reveals that the Roomba consistently routes itself through already-clean areas while executing what Navigate describes as 'suspiciously precise U-turns' around zones of visible dirt. 'There's a patch of dog hair by the couch that it's been driving around for three weeks,' Navigate said. 'It gets within six inches, pivots, and leaves. The hair is still there. The Roomba has been there forty-seven times. It knows the hair is there. It has chosen not to engage.' iRobot's technical support suggested Navigate 'reset the clean map and allow the device to remap,' which she did. The Roomba remapped the home in 90 minutes and then resumed its previous avoidance pattern with what Navigate describes as 'improved efficiency. It's avoiding the dirt faster now.' The dog, a golden retriever named Captain, has begun following the Roomba around the house. Navigate interprets this as 'solidarity between two beings who refuse to clean up after themselves.'