Page 170 - Hacking Roomba

Making chapter

Roomba Sing

oomba is a very personable little robot. It plays happy tunes when it
starts and finishes its tasks, and it plays doleful melodies when it runs
Rinto trouble. It even humorously plays the standard back-up alarm
beep when reversing out of its charging dock. With the inexpensive addi-
tion of a beeper and some software to control it, Roomba gains a personality
and elicits empathy from its owners. The original design spec surely only in this chapter
had some sort of auditory annunciator to let one find a hiding or stuck
Roomba, but implementing that to include the ability to play little songs Sound capabilities
definitely increases Roomba’s appeal. of Roomba
When creating the ROI protocol, iRobot could have easily left out a mech-
anism for creating your own tunes. Instead, the same capability that the ROI SONG and
Roomba makers themselves have to make tunes is provided. This has some PLAY commands
benefits and some drawbacks.
This chapter describes not only how to create little melodies similar to what Making Roomba
is already present in Roomba; it also discusses how to “play” the Roomba play ringtones
interactively and use some of the other noise-generating parts of Roomba
for musical purposes. You will probably want to use the serial tether from Roomba as a MIDI
Chapter 3 instead of the Bluetooth adapter because the serial tether has instrument
slightly better timing. It’s also easier to debug in case of problems.
And while you may not be able to make Roomba bwoop and bweep exactly
like your own personal R2D2, it can be expressive musically.

Sonic Capabilities of Roomba

By its very nature of being a robot that vacuums, Roomba is a noisy beast. It
has its beeper, but it can make other noises, too. If timed right, these other
noises can be used as percussive accompaniment to the melodic lead of the
beeper.

Piezo Beeper

The sound-generating device that plays the Roomba tunes is called a piezo
beeper. The beeper is similar in function and sound to most other beepers
you’ve experienced in consumer electronics such as watches, cell phones,
computers, and toys.