Page 27 - Hacking Roomba

8 Part I — Interfacing

Third Generation

The third generation of Roomba cleaners includes a great many more improvements than were
made in the first to second generation jump. In addition to a dirt sensor, these models include a
home base dock for self-charging, a remote control, a scheduling capability, and, most impor-
tantly for hackers, a serial port. This generation introduced ROI functionality as a firmware
upgrade in October 2005.
This is the current line of Roombas:

Roomba Red: This model, shown in Figure 1-4, was released in 2004 and improved in
2005. It is the least expensive member of the current Roomba family. It comes with a
seven-hour charger instead of a three-hour one and a single dirt sensor. It doesn’t have a
remote control or a self-charging home base, which are standard with the Discovery
model.

FIGURE 1-4: Roomba Red

Roomba Sage: This model, shown in Figure 1-5, was released in 2004 and improved
in 2005. It is the next least expensive model. It is the same as the Roomba Red model,
except that it comes with a three-hour charger and is light green.
Roomba Discovery: This model, shown in Figure 1-6, was released in 2004 and
improved in 2005. It is the one seen in most advertisements. It contains everything the
Sage model does, and it also includes the remote control, the self-charging home base,
and dual dirt sensors.