Control Roomba Vacuum Cleaner Using Wii Fit

Here’s a hack gadgetheads will love. What happens when Roomba meets the Wii Balance Board? Say hello to the “Surfin ba”

Japanese Roomba enthusiast Ron Tajima attached a serial Bluetooth adapter to the Roomba. He then used the Wii Balance Board’s Bluetooth capability to steer the Roomba around. The extent to which he leans on the Balance Board controls the radius of the Roomba’s turn and its direction.

Check out the YouTube video with its kitschy music and sped up assembly footage making it all seem so easy! Even easier than just letting the Roomba do its own thing.

Researchers Tweak Roomba to Respond to Emotions

Researchers at the University of Calgary tricked out an iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaner to react to signals such as muscle tension and eye movement in a bid to test limited brain-computer interaction between humans and robots.

“As far as we know we are amongst the very first to pursue bioelectric signal interfaces in human-robot interaction, where we program a robot to react to the user’s emotional state rather than just direct control,” says Paul Saulnier, a graduate student at the University. Saulnier presented his findings at the
Human Robot Interaction conference in San Diego earlier this month.

Saulnier’s team used NIA, a gaming peripheral from OCZ that reads bioelectrical signals from gamers and translates it into on-screen actions. For instance, gamers who wear the NIA (neural impulse actuator) headband can use some basic thoughts and eye movements to control a video game.

The team mapped NIA to the Roomba and used indicators such as muscle tension to control robot speed. The more tense a muscle, the greater the indication of stress, which in turn acts a signal for the Roomba to back off. (Read the complete paper)

The idea is to prove that mapping the emotional state of a user to the emotional state of a robot is possible with existing technology, say the researchers.

“People have often asked me about the potential real-world applications of this,” says Saulnier. “The example I like to use is an emotion-sensing robot could that could be used to monitor the health of an elderly relative and react if something is detected of concern.”

While it may be an interesting idea, there are technical challenges currently, says Saulnier. But it is something the team hopes to investigate next.

Read More http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/03/researchers-tes/#ixzz0pJrCOlWV

iRobot Presents Roomba Pet And Professional Vacuum Cleaning Robots

iRobot Corp. today introduced the newest additions to its line of vacuum cleaning robots, the iRobot® Roomba® Pet Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot and the iRobot® Roomba® Professional Series Vacuum Cleaning Robot. Engineered and designed with pet owners in mind, the new iRobot Roomba 532 and 562 Pet Series Robots pick up even more pet hair and dander with the help of higher capacity sweeper bins and additional accessories. The new iRobot Roomba 610 Professional Series Robot cleans even the largest of areas, perfect for maintaining office spaces or large high traffic areas.

Help for Hairy Homes

The new Roomba Pet Series Vacuum Cleaning Robots make caring for a home with pets easier. The Pet Series robots come equipped with an extra set of easy to clean brushes, a high capacity sweeper bin for trapping even more pet hair, kitty litter or dander and cleaning tools for ensuring both sets of brushes remain free of debris so they can perform optimally. The sweeper bin holds three-and-a-half times more debris than the vacuum bin, and counter-rotating brushes reach deep into carpets to pull out pet hair and dander. The new iRobot Roomba Pet Series Robots are available immediately in the U.S. and range in price from $349 to $399. Read the rest of this entry »

Neato XV-11 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner Video (Features&Review)

If the increasing workload and busy schedules stop you from spending time to do home cleaning work, perhaps it is time to look for helper such as Neato XV-11 auto vacuum system if you don’t plan to hire a house keeper. Neato XV-11 all-floor vacuum system which was released lately by Neato Robotics is a fully automatic home robot vacuum cleaner that can share your household chores. This smart robot uses a high-tech laser-powered Room Positioning System (RPS) Technology to map the entire floor space in your room and avoids most obstacles. It has a 360-degree view of a room Read the rest of this entry »