This is very interesting as well as being just a cool picture. By working out how long it took for a Roomba to go through a room, turning the lights out and figuring out the exposure settings, this photographer managed to catch the path of the sucker throughout the whole process.
That’s pretty cool, but now all I can think of are other ways of tracking the little bot. Webcam on its “head”? Merge multiple normal exposures? Attach a sharpie to its “tail”? So many experiments to do, and I don’t even own a Roomba! I guess when I move to my new hardwood floor apartment, I can track my Fukitorimushi.
[via Doobybrain, Daily What, and Gizmodo]
good work!
increasing exp time creates real wonders…I have tried it myself !
nice – got a link?
Missed a spot.
Yep…there it is.
that seems like a lot of wasted energy to get the room vacuumed
Wasted? Not at all! That energy is conserved by sitting on the couch (with the occasional effort to lift the legs as to not obstruct the Roomba Chi), which also allows the extra time to complain about being out of shape!
Most certainly.
That looks like a bedroom to me.
The algorithm the Roomba use for its movement could use some big improvements!
I see crop circles!!
By that spiral on the left, it appears that the Roomba uses a very common algorithm: Pi.
I could be wrong.
Pi is not an algorithm.
you right, Pi is not an algorithm…Pi is yummy…especially apple………
Looks like it started to trace out the Fibonacci sequence in the center there…
As much as I like mine, they just don’t make sense. It is redundant, and will spend an hour doing a room. Also, it takes longer to move everything (especially charger cords) than it does to vacuum yourself. Does a damn good job, though, and plays a little victory song when finished.
It’s all worth it for the victory song as far as I’m concerned.
Can anyone identify the pathing algorithm being used? Is it guaranteed to cover a room?
I had a Roomba for a while, but got rid of it in favor of an old-fashioned human controlled vacuum. As you can see from the photo, they go over small, confined spaces (top-left) a bunch of times, but are unable to get really good coverage over wider areas (bottom-right). And those wider areas are more likely to be higher traffic and need better cleaning, but it doesn’t tend to do as many passes over them. My Roomba used to hug the walls and clean them about 10-15 times per cycle, but the middle of the room was often left with maybe one pass if it was lucky.
I’m not sure about how it is most places, but my experience is that dust and dirt tends to get knocked to the corners, and they tend to need more work even from a human vacuum.
There is a video on youtube somewhere showing a man who had hacked his wii fit balance board to control where his roomba goes.
We have a Rumba. It is extremely difficult to just leave it alone. Ours was doomed due to the area volume we have abd the number of obstructions.
Roomba and camera… might want to work on a bed frame there buddy
The Roomba has got to be the silliest thing i have seen in awhile. I cannot honestly believe there are poeple who would buy this thing.
Now find the hidden DaVinci code embedded in the Roomba path.
This thing is really dumb. It goes over the same spot over and over. There has got to be a smarter algorithm for this.
Algorithms?! All of you are a bunch of wusses.
BetterThanYouWusses, you make a very valid point. People who use the word “algorithm” in their posts are wusses…Waitaminnut! YOU used the word “algorithm!”
Oh crap! So did I!!
Hmmm ya know…. I think I will try this with my cat. I never see him move, but he couldn’t just lay there all day, right?
Um, yeah – if it’s a normal cat.
I’m not sure about the Roomba but once i dissected a cheaper automatic vacuum cleaner and found that all it did was go forward until obstructed at which point the force was transfered to a steering gear that swiveled until it was able to move in another direction. Its a sweep-o-matic, not an algorythmic floor maintainence device :p
I know a woman who got one as a gift from her husband. The year before she got an new iron! She loves it. It really doesn’t save her any time, when she uses it. She followes it around like a kid would a candy bar, who gets to eat it when it’s done. She spends more time, than if she cleaned the floor herself. I commented, marry that bad boy with the lawn mower and he could watch it mow the lawn.
SS
If my dog wouldn’t eat it on sight, I’d totally have to get a roomba.
Photoshopped. I have never seen a floor covered with light beams in my whole life.
Er, how is it photoshopped?
It’s the light from an automatic vacuum cleaner taken by a camera with a long exposure.
It’s not some laser beam or whatever you’re thinking of.
LOL @ this guy
I love my Roomba! I turn it on every other day or so when I leave the house and empty it when I get home. Then I drag out the vacuum every week or two to get the suction power and small spaces. It REALLY cuts down on the pet hair I wear to work and the leaf litter I track through the house.
wtf is a Roomba
Who is Roomba ?
Already this picture shows you people WHY IT`S UNHEALTHY to keep such a machine around.
So much infrared or such rays going around, if you didn´t know that yet..
And it´s quite a head ache to some people if not also to pets…
So please stay with the old fashioned way of vacuumimg instead of any wireles gadgets.
A guy from Finland the land of idiot Nokia.
great idea.
too bad i don’t own a roomba.