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iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

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Re: iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

#6
If I'm reading it correctly, the Create series does not have the vacuum components.

I used to be a big fan of iRobot, but after going through 4 of their robots, I have soured on them. Their batteries would die right after the warranty period ended. Plastic parts broke off from regular use. Each of them ended in the recycling bin after 1.5 - 2 years of use.

Re: iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

#7

If I'm reading it correctly, the Create series does not have the vacuum components. I used to be a big fan of iRobot, but after going through 4 of their robots, I have soured on them. Their batteries would die right after the warranty period ended. Plastic parts broke off from regular use. Each of them ended in the recycling bin after 1.5 - 2 years of use.

"new Create is a Roomba with most of its guts ripped out"

Re: iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

#8
I used to work for iRobot's research devision, which isn't on the same team as the Roomba folks.

I'm really excited to see this come back! I'm a bit surprised they haven't taken advantage of the smart phone revolution since 2007. There should be a dock for your phone. The basics would involve beaming back sensor data and sending movement comments. The phone would also come with a camera.

Basically I'm wondering why they didn't build a better Romo http://www.romotive.com/

Re: iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

#9
I bought the original Create when it came out in 2007. It was an awesome piece of tech back then, very stable/rugged, reasonable low level API, extendable, and yes "hackable".

The only downsides was the interface felt old even for 2007, which was a serial port (you'd see a lot of Create projects driving around with a laptop sitting on top of it). And the "battery pack" was useless and ran on I think 12 AA batteries which lasted about 10 minutes.

I got the bluetooth upgrade, which was $50 and the rechargeable battery pack and charge station which was probably another $100.

It's awesome to see the Create 2 includes a rechargeable battery pack AND charge station. It references Arduino and Raspberry Pi but there doesn't seem to be any special integration.

Can anyone find the exact sensors included? Same as the original Create?

Re: iRobot Announces Create 2: An Updated, Hackable Roomba

#10

I used to work for iRobot's research devision, which isn't on the same team as the Roomba folks. I'm really excited to see this come back! I'm a bit surprised they haven't taken advantage of the smart phone revolution since 2007. There should be a dock for your phone. The basics would involve beaming back sensor data and sending movement comments. The phone would also come with a camera. Basically I'm wondering why t…

Looks like they've signed up for the R-Pi revolution instead.

http://www.irobot.com/~/media/MainSite/PDFs/About/STEM/Creat...

Makes me happy, since I'm a card carrying R-Pi nut.

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