Rosie our cleaner

So, I was lucky enough to get a Roomba Discovery for Christmas from my parents. My wife and I both love her and we've decided she'd be named Rosie.

My father also grabbed a strange TV remote alarm, which is supposed to learn your remote's infrared signals for turning the TV on and off and then send that signal when the alarm goes off (thereby waking you up by turning your TV on). It also should be able to learn the Roomba power/clean command.

But it won't.

Or at least it says it's got it by flashing it's little red lights, and when the alarm goes off those wonderful little lights go off again - but no movement from Rosie. I can't get it to actually learn the TV remote control either, so I guess it's no fault of Rosie.

So, dear lazyweb, are there any other cheap solutions for setting Rosie up on a timed schedule to clean my house while I'm away? Or do I have to buy some accessories from iRobot (which will be more expensive)?