Vacuuming, manual or robotic, what makes sense?
Automatic (or robotic to some) vacuums have been around for many years now, but most recently in the last 3-5 years the quality and functionality have definitely improved.
Historically robotic vacuums have been expensive to purchase and repair making end users question the viability of the purchase. To a much lesser extent both of those concerns still exist and are real but like many products the evolution has cured many of the older problems, if you care for it properly it will return long hours of service.
How the automatic concept pays us by allowing the pool technician to use their skills more effectively throughout the day and letting the machine do the vacuuming as needed in the off hours. Think of it as best time utilization. You will still need to manually vacuum your pool occasionally but it will be minimal. If you are a first time user consider requesting a demo for your pool to ensure it will meet your particular configuration and expectations, also a service agreement if there will be multiple users of the vacuum. Yes automatic vacuums are well worth it.