On a more pleasant note...

[maradydd]

... woot.com had the Roomba Discovery 4220 SE on special yesterday for $150 plus $5 shipping, so I did a little budget-checking and decided it was time to start establishing my robot vacuum cleaner army. (Ever since the Bluetooth-enabled Roomba cockfight at ETech back in March, I've been thinking it would be cool to get a bunch of Roombas and write flocking and swarming algorithms for them, then bring them to a conference, have them lock onto some poor bastard's Bluetooth cellphone or PDA, and watch while cackling hysterically.)

I could only afford one, but one is enough to start playing around with the Serial Command Interface. I'm pleased that the SCI manual shows a Python code fragment for changing the baud rate, but all the commands are bit-level, power-this-pin-for-this-long/send-this-opcode-and-data-packet instructions. It doesn't appear that anyone's written a higher-level API (at least not in Python, though the Illinois Roomba Lab (!) at UIUC has a C++ one). (And why would I want a Python Roomba API? Because then any Nokia S60 phone becomes my Bluetooth-Roomba-army control platform. I love you, Python interpreter. Muahahaha.)

(Note to self: in that case, do we open up a need for encrypted channels between cellphones and robots? Should I draft an RFC for SRCP, the Secure Roomba Control Protocol? "Man-in-the-middle" takes on a whole new meaning when the attacker is somewhere in the room with you!)

Anyway, one robot vacuum cleaner does not an army make, but it'll be a neat sidekick. I need a naming convention for robot vacuum cleaners!

Comments

[grimmtooth.livejournal.com]

... get a bunch of Roombas and write flocking and swarming algorithms for them, ...

Oooo, I like

I'm pleased that the SCI manual shows a Python code fragment

Correction, I'm in love.

Because then any Nokia S60 phone becomes my Bluetooth-Roomba-army control platform. I love you, Python interpreter.

Correction, I'm building a temple!

Note to self: in that case, do we open up a need for encrypted channels between cellphones and robots?

Well, yeah. Haven't you seen Battlestar Galactica? Use unencrypted control channels and next thing you know, your former servants are bombing your homeworld and your defenses are floating around aimlessly in space.

On the other hand, imagine the festivities at DefCon - "Get control of Meridith's robotic army and win a free subscription to Make Magazine!"

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Hah! I'd be reluctant to wander through the halls with it, since someone might just pick the poor thing up and run off with it, but that would be a great draw for a talk!

I'd probably still want to bring a paintball gun, though. (Although Nevada is an open carry state, I suspect the hotel might look poorly on me bringing Emma as a theft deterrent.)

[grimmtooth.livejournal.com]

I supposed you might have to lojack that bad boy.

Hm, that begs the question - why exactly don't Roombas come with GPS transponders? It's impossible to have a good sci-fi locator display (ala Aliens), which IIRC is a staple of evil genius lairs everywhere. What's the point of being an evil genius without the evil genius bling?

Also: this - http://www.gizmodo.com/gadgets//robotic-sentry-shoots-and-laughs-at-you-212241.php

Gotta be possibilities for integration.

[grepmaster.livejournal.com]

Mwahahahaha!

[phoenixalpha.livejournal.com]

Might want to keep out of the reach of cats... (http://www.twolumps.net/d/20050321.html)

[sclerotic-rings.livejournal.com]

"ROOMBAS DO NOT HAVE INDIVIDUAL NAMES! ANYONE ATTEMPTING TO DO SO WILL BE EX-TER-MI-NA-TED!"

The naming of bots is a difficult matter

[allonymist.livejournal.com]

I need a naming convention for robot vacuum cleaners!

Well, there are some obvious choices, like fictional robots (Olivaw, Robbie, Bender, Futura, Annalee (no, not that Annalee, this Annalee) ...). You could probably narrow that down to fictional sexbots (Cherry 2000, Sy Borg, ARPA-01) or fictional battle robots (T-800, Jet Jaguar).

I don't know if there are enough cleaning bots to fill up the names for a robot army. There's Rosie from the Jetsons, and a zillion relatively forgettable scrubbots from PARANOIA, and I'm kind of drawing a blank after that.

Hm. Maybe fictional janitors? Fictional maintenance personnel? Ah, I know! Economically exploited children in 19th Century literature! I love the idea of you being trailed by Ragged Dick and Oliver Twist and all rest of the cast of Dickens and Alger and their imitators.

Or maybe famous laborers? Or famous labor organizers?

[ivy]

This is a fantastic idea, and you should totally do this. [cackling] Are you taking submissions for who they'll chase?

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

If you have any suggestions I will happily take them. Heck, it might be a way to pick up a little extra cash. "Tail your friend with evil robot vacuum cleaners, $20 for 10 minutes!"

[nibor.livejournal.com]

Naming convention should be Frankenstein's monster type tales - creations that turned on the creator. A constant reminder of the diligence required when creating a robot army.
The first robot should therefore be Frankenstein's monster.
Then you can start using names like HAL, Skynet, etc.

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

Wah! Why didn't you post this yesterday? I would so buy a roomba for $150- simply to make my inner OCD obscessive happy.

[maradydd.livejournal.com]

Alas, I found the deal at the very last minute; you were probably asleep by then. :( You might check Amazon, though; they had some other models in that range. And for all I know, woot.com might have them again sometime soon...

[rhysara.livejournal.com]

/makes a note to check woot on a regular basis. If you see them again let me know.

My OCDness is starting to be a problem that requires too much of my time. My thought is that I should buy a robot and make it vacuum for me every day.

*is a freak*

[paisleychick.livejournal.com]

You are not my only friend doing this. You should talk with roadknight who has already started hacking his roomba!

Have fun stormin' the castle!