I have one of the random Roombas. The virtual walls are nice for keeping the robot out of areas where it will get stuck, but I rely on making small modifications to the environment to protect things from damage.
In the case of a computer, you could try putting it on a short platform (no more than an inch high is sufficient) or positioning it so cables are in spaces narrower than the robot can access. The latter is what I do. The back of the case is a few inches from a wall, and the cables are routed upwards into cable guides mounted under the desk. I mostly did that for aesthetics rather than the Roomba, though.
I have a few areas where ours gets stuck - I haven't tried it yet, but I was thinking cheap pool noodles would work. Definitely cheaper than beacons at $50 a pop.
Usually easier to slightly raise/lower your furniture.
A surprising amount of furniture already comes with levelers (1) that no one ever adjusts. Raise them up 1/4" and it can then pass under. If not, tacking on some small furniture glides are usually enough (2).
These have the advantage of allowing it to clean under the furniture as well. Every time ours got stuck I'd adjust the height a bit and haven't had a problem in over a year.
We can do that some places where it's an issue (bed, for example) but other places like cabinets that's not possible. The house I'm in now has foundation issues (it's a lease), so in spots it won't get under the cabinets, but a couple of feet down it gets wedged in as the height varies by a few millimeters.
> The house I'm in now has foundation issues (it's a lease), so in spots it won't get under the cabinets, but a couple of feet down it gets wedged in as the height varies by a few millimeters.
You might want to take a look at these. I've found them very useful for situations like that:
Our Roomba loves to get stuck under certain pieces of furniture and the low overhangs of our kitchen and bathroom cabinets. It just wedges itself in place and gets jammed, eventually erroring out.
If it doesn't do that, then the other annoying thing it sometimes does is drive off into a bedroom and go underneath our king-size bed, then "dies" (runs out of battery) somewhere in the middle of the bed area, which makes it very difficult to coax out. Neither my arms nor my wife's are long enough to reach it; I generally have to use a broom handle or such to shove it closer to one side to pull it out.
In the case of a computer, you could try putting it on a short platform (no more than an inch high is sufficient) or positioning it so cables are in spaces narrower than the robot can access. The latter is what I do. The back of the case is a few inches from a wall, and the cables are routed upwards into cable guides mounted under the desk. I mostly did that for aesthetics rather than the Roomba, though.