Roomba - Hacking and Extending Roomba

Hacking and Extending Roomba

From the earliest models on, Roomba vacuum cleaning robots have been hacked to extend their functionality. The first adaptations were based on a micro controller that was directly connected to the motor drivers and sensors of the original Roomba. Versions of the Roomba manufactured after October 2005 contain an electronic and software interface that allows hackers to control or modify Roomba’s behavior and remotely monitor its sensors more easily.

The Roombas with an interface (400 series models from after October 2005 and newer series like 500 and 700) come with a Mini-DIN connector supporting a TTL serial interface, which is incompatible with standard PC/Mac serial ports and cables, both electrically and physically. However, third-party adapters are available to access the Roomba's computer via Bluetooth, USB, or RS-232 (PC/Mac serial). Roombas pre-October 2005 upgraded with the OSMO hacker device allow the user to monitor Roomba's many sensors and to modify its behavior. The Roomba Open Interface (formerly "Roomba Serial Command Interface") API allows programmers and roboticists to create their own enhancements to Roomba. Several projects are described on Roomba hacking sites.

In response to the growing interest of hackers in their product, the company developed the iRobot Create. In this model the vacuum cleaner motor is replaced by a "cargo bay" for mounting devices like TV cameras, lasers and other robotic parts. The Create provides a greatly enhanced, 25-pin interface providing both analog and digital bidirectional communication with the hosted device. Thus, it can then be used as the mobile base for completely new robots. Together with a computing platform like a netbook or handheld device with wireless networking capacity, it can be remotely controlled through a network.