Annotated Bibliography

“History.” IRobot, www.irobot.com/About-iRobot/Company-Information/History.aspx.

The iRobot company website provided an incredible amount of history and insight into the inner workings of the Roomba itself. The historical timeline we used for both our poster and our own website was an incredibly useful teaching tool for visitors because it tracked the overall transformation not only of the Roomba from its start in 2002, but also the company itself history. Being able to see how certain components used in warfare robots and search and rescue were used in the home cleaning robot, were incredible bits of information that helped us to break down the sociological aspects of an automated vacuum.

 

“Accessories for Roomba® 600 Series.” IRobot, store.irobot.com/default/parts-and-accessories/roomba-accessories/600-series/?prefn1=productAgentOnly&sz=12&start=0&prefv1=false

Again, provided by the iRobot Corporation website, this page in particular was used to help us not only with the architecture, but also with the algorithm. Learning about the various components that help it to clean and move was important, if not obvious to know for this project. The use of these parts is also important to understanding how people find these robots. Are the parts loud? Are they easy to remove? Is the Roomba cumbersome or easy to use? This page helped us to answer some of these questions.

Gutmann, Steffen & Culp, Kristen & Munich, Mario & Pirjanian, Paolo. (2012). The Social Impact of a Systematic Floor Cleaner. 10.1109/ARSO.2012.6213398.

This academic paper was actually written with the help of engineers at Google as well as iRobot, where they studied the overall social impact of using a systematic floor cleaner. While they studied Mint, a competitor of the Roomba, it still provided insight into the overall logistics and impacts that having an automated robot can have on a household. They found that not only are people’s homes cleaner, but that they save on average an hour a day, by not having to clean their own space. This leaves time for them to enjoy other aspects of their life, which this article fleshed out. This piece was important into writing our socio-technology analysis, and helped us to bring more intriguing facts and figures into our research.

Glass, Nick, and Matthew Ponsford. “The Secret Military Technology inside the Household Vacuum Robot.” CNN, Cable News Network, 31 Mar. 2014, www.cnn.com/2014/03/31/tech/innovation/the-secret-military-technology-roomba-vacuum/index.html.

As explained in the history part, the Roomba was created from the same company that created military robots and search and rescue. This article explains how much of the technology used within the Roomba, is actually taken from components of earlier military-grade robots. From the sensors on the sides of the Roomba which detect certain obstacles, which were used in military robots to detect where bombs were, to the cameras which map out the Roomba’s path, which were used in search and rescue robots with cases such as 9/11 to capture things in real time. This article not only helps to explain the history, but also the reuse and evolving of the Roomba itself.

Spice, Byron. “Helpful Robot Alters Family Life .” LiveScience.com, 8 June 2007, www.livescience.com/1572-helpful-robot-alters-family-life.html.

This article, written for LiveScience.com, was helpful into looking into the overall sociological effects the Roomba has, but also how it can truly alter a family life. Through the studies of Jodi Forlizzi, assistant professor of human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University, she found that the Roomba changed the family dynamic, because it no longer involved only women, and instead brought in all members of the family, male, young, and old. No longer did women have to set aside time in their day to allot to cleaning, but now they could enjoy doing other things, instead of what historically had been their “job”.

Kurt, Tod E. Hacking Roomba. Wiley, 2007.

This book was not only helpful in understanding the difference in the varying Roomba’s, but also provided a unique view into the deconstructed Roomba and what every single part did. This was very helpful to see and know for the project, because it helped us to visualize what parts were doing what, how they fit together, and how they worked together to do the overall job of the Roomba. It was also interesting to read about Mr. Todd’s history with robots and how he would take them apart and train them to do different jobs. This was interesting because it brings into play again this sociological change to technology and altering it by humans.

Keller, Hadley. “Your Roomba May Be Selling Maps of Your Home.” Architectural Digest, 31 July 2017, www.architecturaldigest.com/story/your-roomba-irobot-selling-maps-of-your-home.

This article we found was interesting because in previous research, articles alluded to the fact that the iRobot Corporation was selling maps of your home and selling your data. With all of the recent exposure to Google’s Alexa and its ability to map your house and the people inside it, privacy is an aspect you wouldn’t really think about with the Roomba. However, realizing that it creates a map of your home, which then goes to storage within the iRobot Corporation might seem frightening. However, while this data is collected, its mostly used for future use of the Roomba, so that it knows where to go, how to go, and what places to avoid.

Layton, Julia. “How Robotic Vacuums Work.” HowStuffWorks.com, electronics.howstuffworks.com/gadgets/home/robotic-vacuum2.htm.

A great article on how to understand the VSLAM and mapping techniques of the iRobot. In using the Roomba, one of the most common questions is, “is its path random, and if not how does it remember.” The answer is VSLAM technology, which help it to locate various routes, obstacles, and stairs (of which it can’t go down), so that it can create the most optimal cleaning route. This article also lays out the various points of the technology the Roomba encompasses, such as the sensors and bumpers, which help it to mark a better pathway.

Brandon, John. “Why the IRobot Roomba 980 Is a Great Lesson on the State of AI.” VentureBeat, VentureBeat, 3 Nov. 2016, venturebeat.com/2016/11/03/why-the-irobot-roomba-980-is-a-great-lesson-on-the-state-of-ai/

This article explains the use of machine learning and Roomba working together. The AI aspects of the Roomba show how now with the update to its technology, it can detect how much cleaning is needed for a room. It depends on size of rooms, but will complete repetitive tasks so that it understands how to evaluate the room for the next time. This brings in an interesting aspect of machine learning, because as the article states, the Roomba is always learning, almost a human like quality.

Lee, Tae-Jae, et al. A Monocular Vision Sensor-Based Obstacle Detection Algorithm for Autonomous Robots. 1 Mar. 2016

This article was important for understanding the use of the Roomba’s many sensors. With six different sensors which detect walls, furniture, and stairs, each one has their own particular job in the overall algorithm that the Roomba sets for itself. This article untangles the uses for these sensors but also how they help in mapping techniques, and visualization for the robot.