Tommy joins the every growing world of automated things where one can have their lights turn off and on, coffee made, bread baked, curtains opened, music start playing, news turned on and displayed, all without human intervention.

Not particularly new, but it is becoming much more commonplace.  To have some "home automation" is the norm, as is having devices that are listening for instructions (hello Alexa or Google home, etc) and will coordinate or set timers for those lights, coffee makers, bread makers, curtains, and home media players.

For our household the question arose - particularly with the recent Passover holiday which tends to leave a lot of crumbs behind on the floor - can Tommy, or rather should Tommy, be allowed to run on Shabbos or Yom Tov (the holiday)?

A person grabbing the vacuum would be prohibited, a violation of Jewish law for Shabbos or Yom Tov.  But Tommy, he's on an automated schedule early every morning - no person involved.  (He does have to be emptied every couple of days, and if anyone leaves a sock or a napkin on the floor he's going to eat it and get stuck - so there is a concern over an intervention factor or getting stuck in the middle of the floor - but lets set that aside for now.)

The Shmiras Shabbos discusses this topic, while what he wrote was before the Roomba or the automated bread maker it was discussing putting a dishwasher on a timer or putting a radio on a timer.  And the interesting answer is yes... but NO.

There is no technical violation of the laws of Shabbos (or Yom Tov) if automation does its thing on Shabbos.  BUT there are things we prohibit because:

-- They could lead to violation.

-- They look like a violation.

-- They destroy the spirit of Shabbos.

In the first case, a real concern with Tommy or any Roomba / automated floor clear, if it's running when people are around, it can run into them or start changing its route due to detecting them.  The person can inadvertently interact with the device.

In the second case, it might lead people to think vacuuming on Shabbos or Yom Tov is permitted.  

The third case is the most important one.  With todays devices we can create an interactive environment on Shabbos that technically does not violate the letter of the law, but completely destroys the Shabbos atmosphere.  We could watch TV, listen to music, have our homes clean themselves, prepare us hot drinks and fresh bread, exactly as we would during the week.  Or we could put those things aside and say "we rest on Shabbos", and yes that means the floor may accumulate some crumbs, and we don't get updates from the news, and we only eat what was cooked before Shabbos.

So in our home Tommy also rests on Shabbos.