At 3, Her Son Developed a ‘Fascination’ with Roombas

When Sara Biggs brought home her second son, Sawyer, five years ago, she knew her oldest, Wyatt, then just 3 years old, would need time to adjust to becoming a big brother. But what she never expected was that his way of navigating that big life change would spark a passion so unique it would transform their entire household and eventually build a community online.

Today, Wyatt is 8 years old, and what started as a quiet interest has grown into a full-blown obsession, a family business, and a story that has resonated with thousands of parents around the world.

A Comfort Unlike Any Other

“Becoming a big brother was a huge shift for Wyatt,” recalls Sara, 40, who previously worked as a physician’s assistant. “Suddenly, there was less time for one-on-one play, and everything in the house seemed to revolve around the new baby. While most kids turn to stuffed animals or blankets for comfort, Wyatt found something very different: our robot vacuum.”

It began innocently enough. Wyatt would sit and watch the Roomba glide across the floors for hours, following it from room to room, talking to it as if it were a pet. But it didn’t stop there. One afternoon, Sara walked into the living room to find her toddler sitting cross-legged on the carpet, a small screwdriver in his hand, and the vacuum completely taken apart.

“I panicked at first, I thought he’d broken it beyond repair,” she laughs. “But there it was: every screw, every gear, every circuit board laid out neatly in rows. And before I could say a word, he started putting it all back together, piece by piece. By dinner time, it was reassembled, plugged in, and working perfectly. To this day, it still runs.”

That was the moment Sara realized this was more than just curiosity. “He didn’t just want to watch it work; he wanted to understand how it worked.”

A Collection That Grew Out of Control

Before long, Wyatt was asking for more robot vacuums. Family members, charmed by his unusual hobby, began bringing home old or broken units they found at garage sales or were planning to throw away. “At first, we had one, then two, then four,” Sara says. “And that’s when things got a little loud.”

“We’d have them running all day long buzzing, whirring, turning in circles,” she remembers. “You couldn’t hold a conversation, you couldn’t hear the TV, and even the dog started hiding under the couch. We thought, What have we gotten ourselves into?”

To bring some order to the chaos, Sara’s father suggested setting aside a dedicated “Roomba Hour” every day, a time when Wyatt could experiment, take them apart, run them through obstacle courses, and learn how they operated. That simple rule gave birth to their family’s YouTube channel, Wyatt’s World of Roombas.

As word spread, Sara posted a request in her local community group: if anyone had a broken or unused robot vacuum, Wyatt would be happy to take it off their hands and even try to fix it. The response was overwhelming. Some owners got their machines back, good as new; most told Wyatt to keep them. By the time he turned 6, the family’s collection had swelled to more than 50 different models, ranging from early-generation Roombas to advanced units like the Roborock Saros Z70, complete with a small robotic arm which Wyatt proudly calls his “most prized possession.”

Turning Passion Into Purpose

As the channel gained thousands of subscribers, brands began reaching out, sending new models for Wyatt to review and test. But Wyatt didn’t just want to work on them; he wanted to show his love for them, too.

“One day we were shopping for school supplies, and he looked me dead in the eye and said, ‘Mom, I don’t want dinosaurs, I don’t want superheroes, I want a Roomba backpack,’” Sara recalls. “I searched everywhere and couldn’t find a single one. So I thought, Why not make them myself?”

Using her background in design and digital tools, Sara launched an Etsy shop, creating custom T-shirts, backpacks, lunchboxes, blankets, and stickers all featuring friendly, cartoon versions of robot vacuums. What started as a side project to earn a little extra income quickly took off. “I thought if I made $200 or $300 a month, that would be wonderful,” she says. “Last year, our highest month hit $1,800. It’s more than just a hobby now.”

But the most meaningful reward wasn’t the money. It was the messages pouring in from other parents.

“Hundreds of families have reached out saying, ‘My child is exactly like Wyatt, they fixate on things no one else understands, and we were worried they were ‘different,’” Sara explains. “We realized there was a whole community of kids with these deep, focused interests, and they needed to see that it was okay.”

From Projects to Publishing

The family took things even further when they decided to turn Wyatt’s imagination into a story. Together, they wrote and illustrated a children’s book titled Robbie the Robot Vacuum and His Big Adventure, with input from both Wyatt and his younger brother Sawyer, who has now caught the bug and enjoys helping with repairs and testing just as much as Wyatt does. They even created a soft, plush version of Robbie to go along with the story.

At the end of 2025, Sara began posting short clips on TikTok and Instagram videos showing all 50 vacuums running at once, zipping around the living room, navigating obstacles, and lining up neatly to charge. Within days, the videos went viral. “People went absolutely nuts,” she says. “Comments were pouring in, some confused, some amused, but mostly full of support and fascination.”

Today, Wyatt is in second grade, and his interest has only grown more advanced. He’s now part of his school’s robotics club, learning how to code and 3D print his own custom parts. “He has that classic engineering mind,” Sara says. “He wants to take apart every device in the house, TVs, DVD players, coffee makers but no matter what he, explores, he always comes back to the robot vacuums.”

Even their home has adapted. Last year, they moved into a larger house with a spacious front entryway, a space they’d planned to decorate with furniture and art. “A year later, it’s still lined wall to wall with robot vacuums,” Sara laughs. “We had big plans, but we’ve fully embraced it. We know this intense focus might not last forever, but right now, this is who we are. And it’s turned out to be such a beautiful journey.”

For Wyatt, the future is clear: “I want to build my own robots one day,” he says confidently. “Bigger, better, and maybe even ones that can do more than just clean.”