Screaming Penguin

Trick out your Roomba This is another of those "but seriously folks" type stories. The iRobot Roomba line has been around for years now and they are viable affordable robotic vacuums (when the conditions for their use are right). iRobot of course makes other products, including for government and industrial use, but its the ole Roomba and the "consumer" division that gets all the press. Now Roomba is adding some features such as a handheld scheduler and "virtual" walls that can be programmed. And just wait for it, iRobot is opening up the Roomba API. Roomba has a serial port and of course mobility, the vision is that other developers could add new features such as cameras (creating a cheap robotic avatar, etc). (And Roomba fans note that iRobot is releasing Scooba, for linoleum and tile type floors - soon.)