Comments on How to stop a robot vacuum from getting stuck on the laundry rack

OMG! Thank you!! My little idiot Roomba gets stuck every time!! We need not fear A.I. just yet.

I just couldn't find a good solution for this problem. Storing shoes below the clothes drying rack has been my best line of defense. I wrapped some twine as shown and BOOM! My little cleaning guy no longer gets stuck!

I recently purchased a Roomba Evo i3 and I have this exact same problem, only with my bar stools [1]. The bar stools have horizontal supports that stick up about 25 mm from the ground—not enough to trigger the bump sensor but enough for the robot to be unable to drive over them.

I'm not super excited about this particular solution because it might affect the stability of the bar stools when people are sitting in them, but I'm considering making some 3D-printed pieces to increase the height of the horizontal support enough to trigger the bump sensor.

(If you're reading this and work at iRobot, please file an internal bug report about this!)

[1] Similar to this product: https://web.archive.org/web/20220530130645/https://www.homedepot.com/p/Walker-Edison-Furniture-Company-29-3-8-in-Grey-Faux-Leather-Bar-Stools-Set-of-2-HD8371/312422768

Kerrick, you could test adding a couple of self-adhesive felt pads (floor protectors) to the legs. That might add enough height to trigger the sensor.

You did a great job playing the Hacker News algorithm and readers on this one. You found a silly problem, identified an existing over-engineered solution, and then proceeded to find a simpler and better solution. Bravo!

Verified solution. I had to test this right away. It stops a Roomba S9+ from getting stuck on my laundry rack and my bar stools. This model is supposed to avoid this automagically but that definitely doesn't work. I'll replace the ugly household twine with some black string that'll blend better with the furniture, though.

I adopted this idea for my speaker cables. My botvac regularly gets caught up in them. I wrapped them in some plastic tubing to increase their diameter. It turns out that some inspiration from your blog and tubing was all it took to resolve the decades' old conflict underneath my couch! Thanks

Brilliant! Thanks!

I ended up making 3D printed "stilts" for my counter stools. You can download the model here: https://www.printables.com/model/317030-counter-stool-stilts-to-prevent-vacuum-robot-from- Thanks for the inspiration Daniel!!