Our friends at ZeroSign have stumbled upon some interesting Roomba news. iRobot just released a Roomba hacking kit that will allow hackers to directly access the internal controls of their product. Just so we're all on the same page here, it's highly unusual for a company to encourage the hacking of their products. Just imagine if Microsoft encouraged people to hack Windows.

iRobot is releasing the "Roomba OSMO//hacker" kit complete with a serial control interface allowing users to connect to and program their Roomba robots. Is this hacking kit an improvement to the average Roomba? No, according to iRobot. "This update is not a necessary enhancement for Roomba owners, rather it is intended for software programmers and roboticists to create their own enhancements to Roomba."

So what results can we expect from the release of this hacking kit? This is what ZeroSign.net speculated in their blog:

"This hacking kit and serial interface will totally open the Roomba to homebrew apps! The mind quickly becomes dizzy with the possibilities available with this. Could I really have the robot servant that I have always dreamed of? applaudde iRobot for their bold move. If more companies released interfacing kits I have no doubt that this world would be a better place for it."

For those of you unfamiliar with the Roomba, it's a robot vacuum created by the iRobot corporation. They make a variety of robots include military grade machines that defuse bombs in Iraq or for SWAT teams.

My Roomba is currently cleaning my kitchen floor while I'm typing this blog post.


Related Links:

• iRobot Hacker Information
• iRobot Interface Manual PDFdf)

[Thanks ZeroSign.net]