RE: [mh] Roomba

[Chuck K. <Ch...@ex...>]

-----Original Message From: Kirk Bauer -----
>Didn't they say that was only in Roombas made after Sept 2005?  Mine is
>a bit older than that so I didn't look into it much further.

Quoting from the iRobot website: =
http://www.irobot.com/sp.cfm?pageid=3D198

"To upgrade a Roomba manufactured before October 24th, 2005 you will
need to purchase a Roomba Osmo //hacker.  The Osmo //hacker will be
available directly from this page on January 1st, 2006. There are two
Osmo //hacker models, one is blue and one is smoke colored.  You must
read your Roomba serial number to determine which Osmo to purchase."

>I like the Roomba but it is really not a huge timesaver as it takes a
>bit of work --mostyl in my case to empty and clean it often due to all
>of the dog hair in my house.

Yeah, this appears to be the consensus amongst animal owners.  To give
you some perspective, I have three girls in the house and only have to
clean the hair off the brush about once a week.

>I'm not a roboticist, but I think it would be pretty tough to figure
out
>where Roomba is in your house using only the information available to
>you from Roomba, without some sort of positioning system like RFID or
>something.

Indeed, I think this will take a coordinated effort of Roomba sensor
feedback and MrH Occupancy feedback.  Add to that some deductive logic
and it might work.  The Discovery version of the Roomba I own comes with
an infra-red remote to drive it where you want it to go.  I'm going to
see if I can learn the IR codes and begin with just driving it somewhere
in the house with MrH.  Later, if I can figure out a way to Real-Time
interface with the sensor feedback, I'll see how far I can take it.