As you can see, it was basically the exact right size. There were two modifications that needed to be made. First off, since the mop cover was built to put on a mop head that folded, it wouldn’t go on the Mint robot without having slits cut in the top parts. Second, the green part was simply too thick. The robot couldn’t get enough traction to push it around, because it was at a funny angle. So I ended up cutting out half of the green fingers. This reduced the volume enough that the Mint could run around the room.

Here it is trying to mate with our area rug.

Just for the sake of the experiment, I ran the Mint in two different rooms, just like I would any other day with a Swiffer cloth or one of the microfiber cloths that come with the robot. On the plus side, the robot sweeper was still able to see things, and also was able to tell that it had run into something when it bumped a piece of furniture. On the minus side, its cliff detection stopped working altogether, and it threw itself off a (luckily short) landing. So try this at your own risk!

I think this answers the question: “What would you get if you crossed a Mint with Animal from the Muppets?” Unfortunately, the mop head didn’t really seem to clean the floor very well. It mostly seemed like it pushed things around, whereas the Swiffer cloths and the microfiber cloths that come with the Mint definitely do pick up a lot of dirt.

iRobot Roomba Long Exposure

I finally got the time, equipment, and software together to make long exposure photos of the different floor cleaning robots to look at the differences between the three. So, above is a long exposure of an iRobot Roomba cleaning up the “hall” in my house. It’s about eight feet long and maybe 5 feet wide. There is a furnace return in the upper left corner that the Roomba avoids, thinking it’s a cliff.

Neato Robotics XV-11 long exposure

Here you can see the orderly progression of how a Neato Robotics XV-11 cleans an area this small. It does the perimeter, and then precisely vacuums the area inside. You can’t tell from the photo, but the line in the middle is actually from two paths. One going from left to right, and the other from right to left.

Mint Cleaner Long Exposure

This is my favorite of the bunch. The Mint goes back and forth, and then does the perimeter, but much more meticulously than the Neato robot. So it leaves quite a bumpy trail around the room.

Neato Robotics XV-11 long exposure

Here’s a photo with the lights on, following a Neato XV-11 through the room again. It took a different way to do it this time, going up and down instead of back and forth.

Did I mention that I made these photos with an Olloclip fisheye lens? I don’t usually talk about things other than robots on this blog, but this thing is really cool. It’s a three-in-one add-on lens for the iPhone 4. It has a fish-eye lens, a wide angle lens, and a crazy macro lens. Here are some other photos I’ve taken recently.

Ludisia discolor 'ambrosia' Jewel Orchid Macro Shot

Daylily Olloclip Macro Shot

Water Lily Flower Olloclip Macro Shot

Looking for the newest, best Roomba? Read our in-depth review of the iRobot Roomba 780, or check out how it compares to a Mint, or 500 series Roomba!

We’re excited to announce our first giveaway. We’re giving away a free iRobot Roomba 440. This robot comes with 2 Virtual Walls and an extra filter. Like Roombas should, the robotic vacuum also comes with a bagless bin, a charger, and a rechargeable battery. This is a new Roomba. Here are some places to check reviews, specs, and prices for this model. (Don’t forget to come back here to sign up! It’s OK – we’ll wait for you.)

435 on Official iRobot Site
440 Reviews on Amazon
iRobot Roomba 400 Series on eBay

This robot has Spot Cleaning function, which is a cleaning function you start manually. Spot Cleaning is for cleaning up a small area quickly. Otherwise this Roomba is kind of no frills. Gets the job done. iRobot says the robot will clean 2 rooms on a charge. Check our Roomba Models page for more details on the various features that the other models have.

What is up for grabs: One iRobot Roomba 440, new in box

Who will win: Here’s what you need to do to qualify for this giveaway: Leave a comment below. The winner will be drawn at random. You can only comment once per person, but there’s a twist. If you Tweet about this giveaway it will count as an extra entry, and if you link to this post from Facebook, it will count as an extra entry. To get your extra entries, simply include another comment for each extra one you do.

Click here to Tweet.

Click here to link from Facebook.

When and how the winner will be chosen: The giveaway ends two weeks away at midnight, on Friday, August 5. The winner will be selected randomly using random numbers generated by random.org. Only US and Canada residents, please.

Notification: Winner will be notified by email.