Final call for Gutter Robots

Oh brother, aren't there any engineers around here? You still have to climb the ladder to put it in the gutter and take it back out! How about the thing comes with it's own little garage at the end of the gutter where it parks itself when it's done and plugs itself into it's battery charger?

Nope - have it crawl up the downspout, clear the gutter, and crawl down again, then go around the house to find the next downspout...extra points if it looks a bit like a spider ;-)

That is exactly what I'd want. With the iRobot unit you have to drag out your ladder and put the little robot in the gutter. Except I doubt this thing can do 90 degree turns so you'll have to drag the ladder over to reposition the robot.

Are there medical applications for this sort of thing?

I have gutters (for the annual gully washer), but they never get choked with leaves ;-)

...Jim Thompson

(iRobot's "Looj" series of gutter-cleaning robots)

I have four different gutter sections to worry about, and half of them are two stories up. Moving and climbing a fully-extended laddre is no fun; doing it multiple times for a 30' gutter sections is less so.

I guess I _could_ buy four Loojes and give each its own garage, even the one on the 10' section, but I'd still have to go up on the roof to install all this stuff and do maintenance on the robots. I'd much rather not climb the ladder in the first place.

Besides, it's the Looj that needs to be hoisted to roof level, not me. How about a 20' "fishing pole" with a hook at the end of the line that simply lifts the Looj up to the gutter and lets you "hook" it to bring it back to earth?

Since it looks like you need to point the Looj in the right direction it could be difficult to swing the Looj around properly, but it would still be easier than climbing a ladder. (A lot safer, too, bar the occasional hook slippange and the ensuing Looj re-entry. )

I don't need the holster and spare battery pack to start with, it looks like I can start of for about $100. Not bad... if it works. I've downloaded iRobot's Gutter_measurement.pdf file to see if the sucker will fit in mine.

Thanks for the "heads up", Martin.

-- ...[T]he innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli / The Prince

-- Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887 Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney ayut mined spring dawt cahm (y'all)