--- --- * [U.S.](/section/us/) # The Robot Vacuum Just Got Smarter by [Anita Hamilton](/author/anita-hamilton/) Jul 19, 2004 4:00 AM CUT by [Anita Hamilton](/author/anita-hamilton/) Jul 19, 2004 4:00 AM CUT With 500,000 units sold since its 2002 debut, iRobot’s vacuum cleaner the Roomba is a hit. But the new Roomba Discovery ($249) works even better. Its DirtDetect feature prompts the vacuum to spend more time on trouble areas. Smart sensors know when the sucker is stuck and help it dislodge. And the dustbin is three times as large. But in TIME’s tests, the Discovery still got stuck on the edges of a rug and missed dust in corners. It’s fun to watch, though. –By Anita Hamilton The Robot Vacuum Just Got Smarter ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6738995/the-robot-vacuum-just-got-smarter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/6738995/the-robot-vacuum-just-got-smarter/"},"headline":"The Robot Vacuum Just Got Smarter","datePublished":"2004-07-19T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-28T11:36:10.211Z","description":"With 500,000 units sold since its 2002 debut, iRobot's vacuum cleaner the Roomba is a hit. But the new Roomba Discovery ($249) works even better. Its DirtDetect feature prompts the vacuum to spend...","url":"https://time.com/archive/6738995/the-robot-vacuum-just-got-smarter/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Anita Hamilton","url":"https://time.com/author/anita-hamilton/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/6738995/the-robot-vacuum-just-got-smarter/","name":"The Robot Vacuum Just Got Smarter"}}]}] ```