Page 384 - Hacking Roomba

Other Projects chapter

oomba is one of the most hacked consumer electronics devices in
history, it seems. The projects in this book take one approach to
RRoomba hacking — home-built add-ons via the ROI port. However,
there are many other ways to hack your Roomba. This chapter shows just a
few options.
Although most Roomba projects are done by regular folk just for the fun of
it, there are a few companies that have been formed to take those good ideas
and become enablers for others. They’ve done the research and through trial
and error built a gadget usable by anyone. in this chapter
Roomba has been around for several years now, but only recently has it Control the mind of
become more hackable because of the ROI port. The hard-won hacks that
only apply to the original Roomba robot aren’t covered here since in general your Roomba
they are quite difficult and aren’t as applicable to the general Roomba-
owning public. Gumstix on a
Roomba
In addition to the projects listed here, there are some good Roomba
resources on the Net that regularly feature Roomba projects:
iPaq Roomba
http://roombareview.com/: The original Roomba fan site. The
site contains Roomba and other domestic robot reviews, tips, and Explore Roomba
news. It also has a great forum with discussions on general Roomba APIs and
and Scooba use and Roomba robotics. applications
http://roomba.pbwiki.com/: A compilation of various
Roomba hacks. Dress up your
Roomba
http://makezine.com/: General hacker blog that occasionally
features Roomba hacks. Part of Make magazine.
Brave the warranty-
http://hackaday.com/: General hacker blog that occasionally voiding hacks
features Roomba hacks.
http://roombahacking.com/: The site containing all the code
for this book, including updates and news about other Roomba
hacks.

Autonomous Roombas

The projects so far have shown you how to attach several different embed-
ded computing systems to Roomba, but you’re not limited to just those.
Hackers across the globe are turning Roomba into a programmable robot
using just about every conceivable embedded computer in every conceivable
programming language. These designs are documented on the Net so you