Page 387 - Hacking Roomba

368 Part III — More Complex Interfacing

FIGURE 16-4: RoombaNet board closeup, barely over an inch tall

Bryan created a great web page about how he created RoombaNet, outlining the methods he
used and pitfalls he encountered. As part of his PhD research, Bryan created evolved neural
network programs that he then loaded onto his RoombaNet board. He had the Roomba wake
up, undock from its charging base, run the neural net for a few minutes, and then return to its
home base.

iPaq on a Roomba

http://roomba.pbwiki.com/iPaq+Roomba+1
PDAs are small computers that run an embedded operating system and have a nice display
and input device to boot. They seem perfect for Roomba hacking. Michael Menefee added
iPaq Pocket PC PDAs to his Roomba models. On the hardware side, Mike created a powerful
serial converter and power supply to convert the Roomba ROI signals to usable RS-232 and
+5V DC. The iPaq connects directly to this, through its built-in serial port, and the power
supply has additional connections and capacity for any additional peripherals.

For software, Michael installed Linux on the iPaq using Familiar (http://familiar.handhelds
.org/). On top of that he ran Player (http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/),