Due to a series of events too messy to get into, I didn't get a chance to run the Roomba (mentioned yesterday) last night. However, the trunk of my car is very tidy. So I set it to run as I left my apartment this morning; we'll see what kind of living space I come home to tonight. In the meantime, there are a couple of questions I can answer out of the gate:
What good is it?
What's the point, aside from the gadget factor and laziness? It's actually got some nice, non-obvious touches. It has an internal microphone, so if it hears itself picking up a lot of dirt in a high-debris area, it'll run back and forth over it until it's clean. If you've got a specific mess you want to clean up, you can put it into Spot mode to act like an unmanned hand vac. It automatically adjusts when it enters a room with tile or carpet. And it's got a little bottom-mounted spinning sidebrush that sweeps dust from your floorboards into its path.
How much does it cost?
Although the product comparison page lists four models, only two seem to be widely available unless you're buying direct: the Roomba Red for $150, and the Roomba Discovery for $250. What does the extra Ben get you? The main feature of the Discovery is also the coolest-sounding: it can find its way back to the charging station when the battery gets low. Other extra features include a cleaning mode that runs it through multiple rooms until it runs out of juice (instead of when it decides it's done), a simple wall-mount and remote control, and a charger that completes in three hours instead of seven. On the other hand, the lower-end model comes in "fire engine, get-the-job-done, I'm-not-messing-around red."
Where can I see one?
Appropriately, the local Target carries the Red, while neither Best Buy nor Circuit City carried any in the line. I ended up buying the Discovery at Fry's, which had dozens stocked on an endcap, but none out for display that I could find. If you want to buy it online, your best bet is direct since iRobot kicks in a free extended warranty and the price doesn't seem to vary between outlets.
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Step-by-step instructions on hacking a Roomba: www.tla.org/roomba/
Hack Your Gadgets
Why would anyone want to hack a vacuum cleaner? Because it's a robotics platform. If you're into the software side of robotics, a Roomba will give you the hardware platform—motors, wheels, sensors, battery, and charger that you would otherwise have to obtain elsewhere, a process that would be an expensive and time-consuming obstacle to your project. The Roomba isn't rugged enough for a BattleBot, but it's perfect for experimentation.
One approach is to do brain surgery on the unit, replacing its microcontroller with a popular, easy-to-program controller such as the Basic Stamp. The Zoomba was an early attempt at such a device, but it never made it past the prototype stage. Another effort, dubbed RoombaBT, has as its goal a Bluetooth-enabled Roomba, so you can direct your vacuum wirelessly, even from your cell phone. You can stay up-to-date on various Roomba hacks at www.roombacommunity.com and get step-by-step disassembly instructions at www.tla.org/roomba/.
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