All terrain Roomba/iRobot

Robotics

Byron Lahey and other researchers at Arizona State University are working on this all terrain iRobot modification. He writes:

Robot Create robots are easily programmable and expandable in their functionality, but can only travel on a very limited varieties of terrain (carpet, hard flat floors and other typical interior domestic surfaces). As part of the Arts, Media and Engineering program we are working on systems related to the Mars exploration rovers. To teach about these systems and allow students to test and explore terrain navigation and mapping with robots, we needed robots with expanded terrain navigation capabilities. This video demonstrates an early prototype modification of the iRobot, comparing the performance of a modified and unmodified robot traveling on a rocky surface.

This video first shows how epicly the standard iRobot Create fails on a non-flat surface, then shows how his mods make it work better. Here are some photos of the modifications.

2 thoughts on “All terrain Roomba/iRobot

  1. dokein says:

    Also great for really, really dirty carpets.

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Becky Stern is a Content Creator at Autodesk/Instructables, and part time faculty at New York’s School of Visual Arts Products of Design grad program. Making and sharing are her two biggest passions, and she's created hundreds of free online DIY tutorials and videos, mostly about technology and its intersection with crafts. Find her @bekathwia on YouTube/Twitter/Instagram.

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