Some Roomba Reading and Resources

["Robert Green" <ROBERT_GREEN1963@xxxxxxxxx>]

Since there seem to be at least a few CHA'ers that own Roombas, I thought it
would be appropriate to post some links I came across while researching some
of the topics covered in previous posts.

At  http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-13636_11-166486.html

there's information about the newest "Red Roomba" by By Scott Wolf about
cracking open the latest Roomba to try to uncover some of the secrets of its
intelligent floor-cleaning prowess.  Lots and lots of essentially duplicate
photos, but some interesting comments.

At:  http://www.hammacher.com/publish/74520.asp you'll find the info about
the $400 unit that I believe is the same one that Dan L. purchased with the
lifetime guarantee.  Nowhere could I find a model number, though, so it may
not be the same.  However this site:

http://robotstocknews.blogspot.com/2006/03/roomba-buyers-guide.html
confirmed that it's the 570, so it's got to be at least two years old.  That
site shed a little light on some of the features:

<<The new Roomba 500 Series Robots feature double the cleaning power, and
have a laundry list of new features! They no longer get tangled in carpet
fringe, can handle twice the surface area with new intelligent navigation,
don't bash into objects because of new sensors that decelerate Roomba before
impact, feature five times the expected reliability, and include better
cleaning for edges and corners. The Roomba 570 features a Wireless Command
Center.>>

Which leaves one to wonder what, exactly are the metrics behind the claim of
"double the cleaning power."  That could be a stronger motor, a more
powerful battery, improved brushes, bigger bin or something else entirely.
For more than four times the price of the DirtDog, it had better be able to
bring me my morning coffee, too!  I should point out, in fairness, that the
more expensive units also come with accessories the cheaper models lack.
The DirtDogs come with nothing but the Red 4300 came with a virtual wall and
the high capacity battery pack and charger for only $10 more.

I did find out something from Roomba that may apply to my units although
it's under the 500 series help FAQ:

<<When using Lighthouse navigation, do not manually move Roomba while it is
cleaning.  Avoid crossing beams between Lighthouses, Virtual Walls, or the
Home Base. Either of these actions can confuse Roomba?s internal memory and
prevent it from returning to the Home Base after it finishes its cleaning
cycle.>>

I've found that to be a problem if the unit jams and has to be cleared
manually.  The unit then does not return to the charging dock reliably.

Also found this interesting press release:

<<"We developed iRobot Dirt Dog to attack the dirtiest places in and around
your home -- garages, porches, decks, basements and under your workbench,"
said Greg White, president of iRobot Home Robots. "iRobot Dirt Dog is the
first robot made for jobs that are too dirty for a regular vacuum.">>

Hmmm.  I'm not fond of scraping even normal household residue out of the
Roomba rollers.  I'm sure I'd be even less fond of scraping some of the
things I've found on the porch from them.

Here are some sites about Roomba "hacking"

At http://Roomba.pbwiki.com you can find resources, links and information on
different Roomba hacks.

This site http://spazout.com/roomba/  has video showing control over Roomba
using a Nintendo Wii remote.

Here http://www.ai.sri.com/~gerkey/roomba/index.html#links you'll find stuff
about Roomba Mapping with experiments.

At
http://todbot.com/blog/2006/09/12/roombactrl-drive-your-roomba-with-your-cel
l-phone/#links there are instructions to help build a Roomba Cell Phone
Controller so you can dial up and start cleaning.  Why, I wouldn't know.
The only use I can see for all these tricks is to perhaps have a camera
equipped Roomba crawl around the house looking for the source of trouble if
the security system is activated.  Not sure what help that might really be,
unless the Roomba was fitted with a Taser or a fire extinguisher!

At
http://www.makezine.com/blog/archive/2006/03/videos_from_roomba_fights.html
you'll find Roomba Botfighting videos from 2006 Etech conference.  Roombas
fight each other on a platform with no fencing to see which gets knocked off
the platform first.  Pretty neat but not as neat as real battlebots with
spiked tails, radial saw weapons!

At
http://wi-fi-location-directory.com/what-does-pda-stand-for/archives/65-Pock
et-PC-Remote-Control-for-Roomba-Robot-Vacuum.html you can find instructions
about how to build your own remote control.

At http://www.elementdirect.com/product_info.php?products_id=44 there are
some interesting hacking goodies.

At http://hackingroomba.com/projects/build-a-roomba-serial-tether/  there
are detailed plans for making your own serial tether for the Roomba

At http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=248 you'll find the iRobot® Roomba®
Serial Command Interface (SCI) Specification

The spec is interesting because it lays out the value for the many sensors
on board the Roomba.

--
Bobby G.