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.

[Nick Keenan]

So I wanted to share my experience. I took the plunge and bought a robot vacuum, I bought this one from Eufy:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081J646XW

I got the refurbished one (which means it was returned, under federal law electronic devices can't be resold as new if they've been returned). It was $125. It worked so well that I promoted it to the basement and wanted to buy another, but they were unavailable then so I got this one from Laresar:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BRPXD7VQ

It was $159. I definitely prefer the Eufy, but they both work well.

Neither one has an issue with vacuuming up sawdust. Where they both suffer is a tendency to get stuck, the Eufy slightly less so which is why I prefer it. In particular, wires are a hazard and pieces of 1x stock seem to be perfect traps for them, like tank traps for tanks, the get one wheel off the ground and then they can't go anywhere. The upside is that I'm motivated to keep the shop tidy.

If I clear the floor of obstacles and run a push broom around and get up any larger pieces, I can then set the robot free and it gets all the dust off the floor. It gets the floor really clean, much cleaner than I can get it. Crucially, I no longer track dust into the rest of the house. My shop is about 320 square feet and both units have ample battery power to do the whole shop in one charge, and sufficient capacity in the dust bin. I clean the dust bin after every run and it's usually quite full.

It does take several hours to do the shop, I usually just turn on the robot as I'm leaving, turn out the lights and close the door. I come back to a clean shop.

[LCHIEN]

Cool! I fear my shop is too cluttered.

[Slik Geek]

Thank you for pioneering this and posting your experience. I've been thinking that this might be something I should try, and your data was very helpful! Feel free to share any additional insight that you gain.

[LCHIEN]

That is not possible in my case as we have some stairs inside the store

On the evening news - "Robotvacuum found dead at bottom of stairs. Police are investigating whether it was an accident, suicide, or was he pushed. There are no witnesses, no note, and nothing missing. If you have an information pleas call the police tips hot line..."

[jacobs]

i do have thats very comfortable to be honest