Our Roomba has been doing what I call a “wiggle walk” lately, where it waddles about a foot in one direction then turns around and waddles in the other direction. I contacted iRobot’s support and provided a video clip of our Roomba’s walk. The diagnosis from iRobot was a problem with the wheel sensor. They suggested giving it a thorough cleaning to make sure the internal sensor wasn’t being blocked by dust.

I “popped the hood” today and vacuumed our vacuum out. That’s when I noticed the root of the problem: the left wheel sensor switch didn’t look like the right. The switch was broken, the little arm that goes with the switch was missing. iRobot’s support department told me iRobot can’t send a replacement switch and that the only thing that can be done is to replace the Roomba.

I just bought a new battery for the Roomba and don’t want to junk it just for a little switch. I refuse to believe I have to put Roomba down like a horse with a broken leg. I figure one can’t own a robot without knowing how to fix it, so I’m thinking about how to either fix the switch or work around it. Since Roomba is used mostly on the first floor and has almost no chance of falling, I think I may safely bypass the switch. We’ll see!

Update 10 Feb 2010: I did wind up hardwiring the switch, which breathed more life into my robot friend at the risk of having it run off a cliff someday. Fortunately I only use Roomba on the ground floor. Success!