Yes. It is finished. We can shut down NASA, DARPA, all the arts and sciences, and stop trying now. The pinnacle of human achievement has been reached. Robot vacuums have been hacked to play the parts in a real-life game of Pac-Man.

The ghosts are actually moving autonomously along computer-defined lines (they can’t “see” the actual maze) and the Man of Pac himself is guided by an RC controller. I was a little disappointed to see that he doesn’t eat the dots, though.

I won’t waste your time by summarizing all the hacks and modifications that went into this project; they’re well-documented here, and good reading too if you’re into that sort of thing.

[via Giz and En]

The only thing that scares me more than cleaning is robots, so I’m gonna sit this one out. But if you’re not afraid of robots or refurbished technology products, then $130 for an iRobot Roomba 530, charging station, and virtual wall unit is a wheel of a deal.

Features!

• Efficiently vacuums dirt, debris, pet hair, dust, allergens and more from carpets and hard floors
• Counter rotating Bristle Brush and Beater Brush work together like a dustpan and broom
• Sturdy Bristle Brush digs deep into carpet fibers to grab dirt, debris, pet hair and more
• Powerful vacuum sucks large and small debris into the large, bag-less bin
• Fine filter traps dust, pollen and tiny particulate inside the bin
• Cleans the whole floor, under and around furniture, into corners and along wall edges
• Detects dirtier areas and spends more time cleaning them
• Spot Clean provides quick clean-up of spills and concentrated messes
• Automatically senses and avoids stairs and other drop-offs
• Simple operation—just press the Clean button and Roomba does the rest
• Automatically returns to its self-charging Home Base to dock and recharge between cleanings
• Faster counter-rotating brushes with improved design pick up more hair and debris and are easier to remove and clean
• Improved filter captures more dust and allergens while a larger bin holds more debris
• Improved anti-tangle technology keeps Roomba from getting stuck on cords, carpet fringe and tassels
• Improved sidebrush makes Roomba even more efficient at cleaning edges and corners

Although this is a refurbished product, you do get a 90-day warranty directly from iRobot.

iRobot Roomba 530 Robotic Vacuum with Virtual Wall [Woot.com]

This one is better than the one I have (I have the first one ever). Here are the specs:

• Vacuum-cleaning robot with on-board scheduling for all floor surfaces
• 2 high-speed, counter-rotating brushes; anti-tangle technology; side brushes
• Gentle-touch bumper; dirt sensor; built-in cliff sensors; self-charging Home Base
• Includes bumper extension, cleaning tool, power adapter, rechargeable battery, 3 extra filters, 2 Virtual Walls, and batteries
• Measures approximately 13 by 13 by 4 inches; 1-year limited warranty

This one features on-board scheduling so you can set it… and forget it. Hopefully you won’t forget it entirely, though, as I’ve done with my own Roomba.

iRobot 500 Series Roomba Vacuum-Cleaning Robot with On-Board Scheduling [Amazon]

So our original hunch was correct: a new Roomba is currently in beta stage and it will be an evolution of the 550 series. It will be all black with a textured surface and this model, strangely enough, is missing the top handle. It will have a smaller base and lighthouses – the invisible walls you put in the house – that use C batteries and have an on/off switch. There is a better and bigger filter and the brushes are softer.

UPDATE – We have the first picture of the new Roomba.

Tipster DG notes that the beta testing has run for about 10 days so far and all the amazing new features we expected – namely easy corner attacks – aren’t included.

Not sure if this excites you, but I heard from a Costco salesperson
that they’re getting new Roombas “soon”, though that could mean
months. They aren’t stocking the ones they’ve been carrying (model
550). Also Woot just sold off a bunch for 535s for ~$100 less than
what they usually sell for, so are probably clearing out inventory.

If anything, you can get yourself a cheap 550 or 535?

I doubt sincerely this means the arrival of the square Roomba we talked about last week but it could mean a refreshed model going out to big box stores. We’ll investigate a bit.

If you’re a stickler for clean floors (note: I am not) but you can’t afford a live-in maid to clean them every day (note: I can not) and you’re not afraid of robots (note: I am, deathly) then perhaps you need a Roomba.

Woot.com has the iRobot Roomba 535 for $149.99 with $5 shipping. That, my friends, is an excellent deal as this unit goes for $250 and up just about everywhere else. This is a new unit that Woot’s selling, too, not a refurb.

The 535 comes with a recharging station so it’ll clean the floor and then find its way back to said station when it’s all done. It also comes with a “Virtual Wall Lighthouse” which is a little base unit you put on the floor next to a doorway to keep the Roomba in a certain room while blocking off other areas of your house.

iRobot Roomba 535 [Woot.com]

Friends, every morning I wake up, look at myself in the mirror, and choke up. Look at me: a 34-year-old man, overweight, exhausted, with acid reflux and sleep apnea. I feel like the underside of a bench at the Greyhound depot. But then see stuff like this. That’s right: that, people, is a Roomba with freaking corners.

Not content with just gliding around aimlessly and making noise, this Roomba will go into corners and tear it up. You’re all like “What could Roomba do to make corner cleaning better?” and I’m all like “BAM!” This is like the Slap-Chop on meth.

RobotStockNews notes that this is simply a patent application and will probably never be made but whatever, right? Look at that thing. It’s like Robot God himself dumped it out of his holy innards.

Roomba? Check. LEDs? Check. Poor grasp of English language? Check. “My Roomba have changed to shining PACMAN!” Double check.

via BBG

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]

Not just a face, but big red-light eyes and arms that carry useful tools like a broom and dustpan! The little Robo Sapiens has a built in vacuum as well as edge detection to keep the fella safe. Truly, the 80s were a wonderful era, filled with progress and innovation. Nowadays our robots are faceless, lifeless abominations.

Via BoingBoing Gadgets

Mr. Pitiful really likes his Roomba. So much so that he wrote a song about it… and made a music video for it. It’s actually from about a year ago but sometimes songs about robotic vacuum cleaners take time to develop a following.

I haven’t written a song about my Roomba yet, but that’s mostly because it constantly gets tangled up in the ends of my area rug and I’m pretty sure the battery is shot even though I’ve only used it a handful of times.

[via BBG]

iRobot

The Nippon-only device is based on the Roomba 530 model, with the only difference being the cute design. Available from September 30, the Hello Kitty-Roomba costs $800. It’s available online only and is limited to 500 units.

IRobot has a couple of new Roombas for you pet owners. Two, to be exact. There’s the Pet Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot and the Professional Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot, both of which sound like a real hoot. The Pet Series has a few things that make cleaning up after your pets a little easier, including a large sweeper bin (for collecting pet hair and dander and all that muck, shudder) and an extra set of purposeful brushes. Our cup runneth over, clearly.

Meanwhile, the Professional Series steps things up a notch by including even *higher* capacity storage bins and a bin for the Roomba itself. This one is for small businesses or other higher traffic areas, where a regular Roomba isn’t quite up to the task.

This guy is still a virgin.

Have any of you hacked your Roomba?

via Kotaku

Robot Stock News has discovered a patent by iRobot for a “Lawn Care Robot” similar to the company’s line of robotic vacuum cleaners. While robotic lawnmowers aren’t new, they’ve had a hell of a time replacing conventional lawnmowers. You know, the kind that actually cut your entire yard in a reasonable amount of time even though you have to do all that inconvenient “walking” we’ve heard so much about.

The biggest challenge for current and previous robotic lawnmower offerings has been how to keep the things inside your yard. Various methods involving line-of-sight spikes or buried wiring have been used. The iRobot patent alludes to the idea of GPS navigation or some sort of audio beacon to keep the mower within your property lines.

The iRobot mower will be theoretically able to avoid obstacles in your yard, recharge itself, and even collect grass clippings. From Robot Stock News…

“The Mowba lawnmower — (iRobot will surely have a better name?) — would be able to avoid most obstacles on its own, such as driveways, trees, pools, ponds, curbs, etc.
There also appears to be an option for a robot-activated recharging station. (Something also available on the Robomower.)
Among other cool features:
* A possible edge trimmer along the outside edge of the chassis.
* The possibility of collecting clippings and depositing them at a specified location;
* The possibility of using RFID tags or proximity sensors to avoid running into pets or people;
* The possibility of learning your lawn in the first cutting and remembering it for future cuttings;
* The inclusion of grass-combing technology to ensure that the grass is fluffed and properly oriented for cutting.”

This all sounds well and good, but the biggest factors will undoubtedly be cost and how well the mower actually mows your yard. It’s one thing for your Roomba vacuum to miss a spot of unseen dust on your rug, it’s an entirely different thing for a Roomba mower to leave patches of unmowed grass all over your yard. How long it takes the mower to cover an entire normal-sized lawn could also be another factor. If it takes six hours and multiple recharges to get everything and you have to untangle it from your garden a few times, it might turn out to be more trouble than it’s worth.

Still, if any company can get the robotic lawnmower right, it’s iRobot.

via BBG

Not only do we bring you a video of a Roomba that’s been converted into a Bluetooth-controlled real-life Pacman, but we bring you a video of how it was done and it munching dirt in action.

This is, of course, a hack, not something you can pick up yourself. And it’s in Japanese. But it’s still cool.

We’re still trying to find the Donkey Kong-mod for throwing barrels at Italian plumbers.

Roomba Watch Out [Yanko Design]

Like Roombas? Want to see them singing and dancing? Hate your job and want to spend a few minutes watching videos? Yeah, thought you did.

Feature: Top 5 Roomba Hacks [TechEBlog]