Anyone have a robot vacuum in the shop?

[Nick Keenan]

I'm thinking of getting a robot vacuum for the shop. It seems like it's a more demanding environment than a house so I'm wondering if anyone has experience. I'd probably still use the broom to get most of the sawdust.

Thanks.

[leehljp]

That might work under the right conditions - namely under the assumption that the floor is kept basically clear ALL the time. Those robots don't have the capacity to store a lot of sawdust, plus chips of various sizes will be the very ones to block the input. Some sizes just will not go in; other will, and then there are the in-between sizes that will get stuck.

I am sure this can be figured out, but it is the things that I would look at in considering one.

For me personally, I have too much to sawdust to even think about a robot vac.

[Jim Frye]

I doubt it would work very well, but a couple of queries to the makers should answer your question. My ambient air cleaner sits on the floor in the corner of the shop and sends about a third of its airflow around the floor and the rest overhead to blow the airborne dust down. The shopvac gets the small amount of chips hand tool work from the floor.

[twistsol]

I unintentionally tried it with mine when it escaped the weight room and wandered into the shop. It is a Roborock S4. The dust bin capacity wasn't enough to really clean much space. It shut down after about 5 minutes in the shop, and the shop was fairly clean when it went in.

[capncarl]

I don’t know if the robot could handle the continuous changing landscape. My shop has 3 office chairs and 1 stool and a number of roll carts that are moved continuously. Few of my large tools are permanently mounted so at any time there might be large vacuum hoses on the floor. It’s a good idea but I don’t see it being successful.