[utopiah]

> the whole value of a robot vacuum is that... I don't vacuum, the robot does, and when it does so it when I'm not at home.

I agree, that's indeed the value proposition and that's in fact why I got mine... but do you really "just" do that, namely turn it on (or automatically with scheduling) or rather do you

- very it's charged (because sometimes it doesn't actually get right on its station)

- verify its empty or that its bin isn't full

- remove chairs and cables

then and only then start it?

I had just a few couple of "bad" experiences when it got stuck on something just a few centimeters of the floor or (and that one really sucks) cables entangled inside to reconsider how "worry free" letting it roam without supervision was. I don't have pets but if I did the poop smearing videos would also scare me quite a bit.

[PetitPrince]

I see where you're coming from, because my robot tends to eat the cats toy as well as my computer charger cable. In my case the prep is minimal, as it's just putting them on the sofa. Otherwise the robot has no problem charging and returning home, (I only had issue 3 times in 5 years ?). Concerning the bin I have pets so in my mind I have to empty the bin after each run. But psychologically I see tons of hair so in a way it's satisfying to see a job well done. The pets are fortunately well behaved so poop smearing is a non-issue (some more recent robot also have object detection to avoid this kind of stuff).

In any case, the ritual is to run it every odd day or so just before leaving for work so the mental burden is low.