iRobot's Looj wants to clean yer damn gutters
By Ryan Block 
posted Aug 29th 2007 3:46PM
posted Aug 29th 2007 3:46PM
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Living in a two-story house with a tile (slippery) roof, I can definitely consider picking up one of these. Looks like a little r/c car with a shovel. I can lug one of these up to the roof, set it in the gutter and then drive it around.
Interesting idea. It will have to be one sturdy little robo to clean some of the nasty gutters I've seen. I'm also intrigued as to how it will clean gutters that are hung with spikes, where the clearance is quite low, as opposed to hangers. I wish them luck, cleaning gutters is pretty gross.
What's with the subtle Engadget watermark on those images? Have you guys always done that?
Amazing idea. Provided it works, imagine how quick a kid could make a ton of money in the summer.
@Chris
afir... pretty much yeah
@topic
Pretty neat however, riddle me this, riddle me that, how the fudgeberies is this thing supposed to go around corners?
Looks like I still have to get up on a ladder and touch the gutters, FOR SHAME iROBOT! FOR SHAME!
lol, looks nifty, i'll have to wait on more to make a decision if i like this or not.
complicated robotics completely pwned by simply protecting your gutters with screens.
little crap gets in, and sometimes doesn't flush down :\ plus they can get blocked and gutters become useless, also they are not remote controlled.
@topic
I just realized this isn't really a robot per-say no autonomy means it's not as cool. :( i want something that will live in my gutters and clean it all out. And have a crazy vaguely sweedish sounding name too. :'( you've let me down iRobot.
Yeah, i love robots, but uh, this really seems like s pretty niche product... I can think of the few gutters i've actually cleaned in my life, and this wouldn't work with any of them for various reasons... How useful could this really be versus a $4 plastic gutter shovel? Or a leaf blower?
-Taylor
ah well. as long as it follows the 3 laws.
"iRobot's Looj wants to clean yer *dammed* gutters" would have been a more accurate title.
Buy Gutter Toppers and save the loot for the real iRobot "back break saver", i.e. Law Mower and Leaf Shredder...
Law Mower???
That sounds unsafe.
a Law-mower keeps lawyers at bay, trimming them when necessary.
There's no way.
I have enough trees I have to clean my gutters 2-3 times a year. And the forces involved to move all that weight of leaves is beyond any battery-powered device.
you're forgetting the Cyberdyne Systems Model 101
Yeah I hate cleaning my gutters once a year but not $250 worth of hate (assuming same price range of roomba/scooba).
Um, Roomba engineers? Excuse me but, just how do you expect to get past the Gutter nail-brackets? You know, those tubes the extend across the gutter to fasten to the roof? And you still need a ladder to setup/retrieve the unit.
I have a better idea! I'll run along and patent it...
Addendum: That clear phot below didn't load before my comment above. So, that handle in the illustration is not there so it could traverse under the nails...
Still. If you are gonna ladder up to each gutter...why not get a blower or HiPressure hose...or gutter covers?
What is it, Pottymouth Wednesday on Engadget? What the damn hell ass frick is going on?
Robotic colonics!?! No thank you. I do not wish to be sodomized by the iRobot Scrooj or whatever vaguely Swedish sounding name they might come up with.
the robots... "Dey tuk er jerbs!!!!"
so does the iRobot Splooj clean out your prostate?
why use a robot to do a womans job?
Does it come with a robot that clear my gutters from stuck robots? *rolleyes* I've seen the Roomba contest last week, and how they had trouble with simple stuff like cable, so I've got to wonder...
Next up from iRobot: The PoopScoop 2000, goes straight down the drain.
Are you talking about a loogy? Or that long pole with skate wheels you race down the hill on?
Meh, This would be worthless on my House, I have gutters but there the Self Cleaning Kind. But this robot could clean around the Base Board inside though.
So where Do I leave Feedback for this?
I'm pretty sure it's pronounced luge, as in the sled that goes down a hill in a track... kinda like a gutter...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luge
Maybe YOU'RE waiting for a robot to go up into your colon, but don't try and drag the rest of us into your sick little world.
I am going to buy it because I know how dirty is the gutter is.
http://kombizz.photosite.com/
I'm not sure this is as cool as my lawnbott evolution which keeps my grass cut. It's by far the best purchase i ever made. Check'em out at http://www.lawnbotts.com
I'm waiting for the iRobot Zamboni. Set it out on the backyard ice rink, and it resurfaces the ice.
Wouldn't "Roofba" be more inline with the other product names?
This is a worthless product unless it costs $50. There are many gutter guards on the market that render this toy completely useless since nothing gets in the gutters to begin with. It's about 5 years too late to market.
My back gutter is 30+ feet off the ground. Although I have gutter guards, I still get a buildup of twigs, leaves, and other material that needs to be cleaned off (lots of trees). My options are standing on the ladder or walking across the metal roof. I might give this a shot when they come out. The back gutter is a straight line across the back of the house.