Oh dear, things are not looking good for Roger.
He had his overnight charge and after DD had accidently woken him up once and scared herself silly, we went for trial run.
I hadn't set up his lighthouses (he is the 560 model) but gave him a run around our living room/dining room. Initially I was quite impressed at how he managed but then he got himself stuck on the edge of a rug and sang his "help me" song.
I sent him home for a rest. He spectacularly failed to dock himself and whined for help until I docked him.
After a short feed, DP came home and we gave Roger test number two. Roger clearly felt the pressure of having to prove his worth to the alpha male () of the house and ran around in circles before once again getting stuck on the edge of the rug. He shouted for help again and (having dug out the Roomba translation guide) discerned that he thought his bumper was either dirty or stuck (it was neither).
I moved him to the hall, thinking a smaller space might give him a chance to establish himself. Roger did some more circling, then got stuck on the rug, was freed by me again then his docking light came on (hungry? already?) and I had to escort him home.
So, we bought a Roomba as new wooden floors (with rugs) will benefit from a daily sweep and bought the 560 so that he could do this whilst we were at work. So far he seems to be quite needy and can't handle rugs.
DP is muttering darkly about sending him back. We will try again tomorrow with the lighthouses but to be honest Roger has a lot of ground to make up if he wants to stay.
I do have to say though, he did pick up an impressive amount of crud (the rug is new so bad housekeeping can't be the whole story)