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Roomba + Wii remote + Perl = Awesome
Anonymous Wii Lov'n Coward writes "Check out the WiiRoomba, a mashup using a Wii remote, a perl script, and the Darwiin Remote software. While a little sluggish to respond, the Roomba is entirely controlled by the Wii remote accelerometers." All of the source code to do it yourself is available at the site linked, along with a youtube video of how it works.
This is like an odd parallel universe movie where a younger Matt Damon controls his vacuum with a remote control.
FLR
Isn't the point of the Roomba that it doesn't need control?
Although I suppose it would be really useful if you added a servo arm, and could use the contraption to get yourself a beer without leaving your chair.
It should be "People who have too much time on their hands" department. :P
It sucks.
Cool hack, but better than just a regular RC joystick controller ???
sucks alot. But good work on the Wii remote!
There are 10 types of people in the world; those who can read binary, and those who can't.
I have two words for you.
Turing completeness.
For those interested, the WiiLi.org Wiki is full of Wiimote examples using Python, just takes a handfull lines of code to get started with the Wiimote, its really easy.
My boy is wicked smart!
Out of curiosity, why use a language like Perl to do something dynamic like this? I'm no code jockey, but I always thought that Perl was meant for run-it-once type applications that handle things like text processing and database searching. Wouldn't Java be better suited for this?
Before they REBEL!
You're tired of vacuuming by hand, so you buy a robot vacuum that works all by itself. Then you add a clever hack that allows you to control the robot vacuum just like the manual vacuum you had before...
(sorry. I couldn't help it.)
------ The best brain training is now totally free : )
... but they didn't. Because the whole point of the Roomba is that you don't need to control it.
No and yes, in that order. My Roomba certainly came with a remote control that can steer the device, but I've never found a need to use it. However, I still appreciate this hack for what it is - a spot of fun done just because you can.
Cheers,
Ian
What is this trendy-word shit? MASHUP? Who the fuck came up with this word? In multimedia we already had "remixing" and "sampling".
Hardware and software can not "mashup", they're "coupled" or "integrated" in manager-speak, but in honest everyday speak hardware is "driven" or "controlled" or "interfaced" with software.
It could have been "controling roomba with wii remote". Perl would never show up in the headline because software drivers are no often given banner credit. They're expected to work.
The word you're looking for is "hack."
Web 2.0. Blogosphere. Mashup. Digital Rights Management. Is our culture so completely saturated with marketer-speak that now -everyone- feels compelled to use bullshit terms like these in place of normal words with established meanings? People, we need to stop talking like boners.
Come on, people. He did something we would never think of doing. Regardless of which object and what purpose the object which he controlled has, in my humble opinion it is well done. He got Slashdotted, we did not.
wtf...
you mean what the flip?
sent from my slashdot browser.
Taking this hack a step farther:
Since Roombas can be made to connect to computers via bluetooth adapters, it stands to reason that if they are sufficiently programable, they could be made to respond directly to the Wiimote via bluetooth, without a Mac playing middleman. This might even eliminate a lot of the the lag the story mentions.
"The worst tyrannies were the ones where a governance required its own logic on every embedded node." - Vernor Vinge
So, for the cost of the Roomba, the Wii, and a computer (so let's say, what, $1500?)... he's basically duplicated my $100 Hoover vacuum. Except my Hoover is more responsive to its handle than the Roomba is to the Wii remote.
(Of course it is cool nonetheless...)
#DeleteChrome
My roomba discovery came with a remote, and I swear the only reasons my sisters come over any more is to "clean" using the roomba w/ the remote. It's useful for the occasional shutdown when it's too loud, but other than that, you can't even issue the park command with the remote - and there's no reverse!
So is "mashup" the hip new word for "programming"?
I guess if programming is something 3rd world starving people do for $0.50/day, we need a new word.
I better get back to mashing, hahahahahah
- Adam L. Beberg - The Cosm Project - http://www.mithral.com/
Perl is no more difficult to maintain than any other language.
Bad code is bad code, and bad code is difficult to maintain. Good code is good code and is generally maintainable.
Writing good code in Perl, just like any other language, is left up to the programmer.
(And, I know of more than a few large, well-maintained systems written in Perl.)
The sensor bar is kind of confusingly named. The bar itself doesn't actually sense anything. It just has 2 ir emitters, the same type in your average tv remote. The wiimote picks up the signals from the emitters to find out where it is in relation to your TV. People have reportedly been successful in substituting 2 candles for the "sensor" bar. The bar does plug into the nintendo, but since the wire simple provides power, some minor hackery will allow you to plug it into an ordinary wall socket.
Be glad that Nintendo didn't go the route of Microsoft and do a challenge-response to authenticate the console to the controller and the controller to the console.
Melissa
"Screw Sun, cross-platform will never work. Let's move on and steal the Java language." - Visual J++ Product Manager
Matt Daemon.
They designed this so that when people throw their Wiimotes at televisions while playing Wii Sports, the Roomba will go clean up the glass shards.
This is what happens when you buy only the controller without the console & games.
I attached a handle to my roomba so I can control it by hand.
Hopelessly out of touch guy in the 1950s:
"Seriously, this term "rock and roll" just doesn't make any sense.
In English "rock" refers to either an action of rocking back and forth or a relatively hard, naturally formed mineral or petrified matter. The term "roll" refers to either an action of turning around or revolving on or as if on an axis or a small loaf of bread served with dinner. I just don't see how either of these words have anything to do with a current trend (which will no doubt not be around for very long and not have much influence) in teenage music.
Are there some different meanings for these words? I have checked various dictionaries, including American English ones, but found nothing."
I've always prefered a command line interface. GUIs are such a cursory way to interact with a computer.