---
title: "This Madman Built a Flying Robot Vacuum Cleaner"
description: "An engineer strapped propellers onto a robot vacuum, creating the ultimate abomination: a Roomba that kicks up more dust than it cleans."
date: "2019-12-23"
modified: "2019-12-23"
authors:
  - name: "Dan Robitzski"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/danrobitzski"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/madman-built-flying-robot-vacuum-cleaner"
categories:
  - "Robotics"
  - "Robots and Machines"
tags:
  - "drone"
  - "robot"
  - "roomba"
  - "the digest"
---

# This Madman Built a Flying Robot Vacuum Cleaner

![An engineer strapped propellers onto a robot vacuum, creating the ultimate abomination: a Roomba that kicks up more dust than it cleans.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/madman-built-flying-robot-vacuum-cleaner.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: Peter Sripol\</em\>*

## Gone Too Far

Finally, the advance in robotics that we've all been waiting for: a robot vacuum that can fly.

The flying Roomba, a creation of engineer and [YouTuber Peter Sripol](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2yIVFb2lI>), isn't exactly useful, *[The Verge ](<https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/12/23/21034914/flying-roomba-robot-vacuum-peter-sripol-youtube>)*[reports](<https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/12/23/21034914/flying-roomba-robot-vacuum-peter-sripol-youtube>). But practicality doesn't seem to be the point here. Rather, the experimental robot comes across as an [exercise in absurdity](<https://futurism.com/ces-2018-most-absurd-technologies-to-come>) and — perhaps — an on-ramp to more helpful tech down the line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wA2yIVFb2lI

## Sisyphean Vacuum

The flying robot vacuum — a Roomba with drone propellers tacked on — can't go about cleaning a multiple-story home on its own. While the robot vacuums are [famously autonomous](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/roomba-i7-maps-house>), Sripol still needs to manually control it while it flies, according to *The Verge*, steering it up a flight of stairs like any other consumer drone.

Besides, you probably wouldn't want it to clean your home anyway. As Sripol quickly found out, the propellers kick up more of a mess than the Roomba cleaned in the first place, meaning the airborne vacuum needs to constantly scuttle after its own ever-growing mess.

**READ MORE:** [This flying robot vacuum overcomes the Roomba’s biggest weakness: stairs](<https://www.theverge.com/tldr/2019/12/23/21034914/flying-roomba-robot-vacuum-peter-sripol-youtube>) \[*The Verge*\]

**More on useless robots:** *[Police Robot Ignores Woman Trying to Call Police](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/knightscope-security-robot-ignored-woman>)*

## Author
Dan Robitzki is a senior reporter for Futurism, where he likes to cover AI, tech ethics, and medicine. He spends his extra time fencing and streaming games from Los Angeles, California.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://x.com/danrobitzski>)