The latest in robotic vacuum cleaning is the XV-11 from Neato Robotics – and it features a scanning LIDAR laser range-finding module that is ripe for repurposing in other robots. Chris over at Sparkfun lovingly tore in to one and wrote up the results so far – the module has a simple serial port interface that will probably soon be decoded and understood.

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Read the teardown & exploration here
Read the whitepaper on this $30 LIDAR module (so far available only in this $400 robot)

Via Solid State Depot mailing list, the Boulder hackerspace. Chris will be presenting at Tuesday night’s meeting, so stop by if you’re in the area!