Smart Robots In Your Home

Since the robot community has been busy hacking and modding the Roomba anyway, iRobot decided to go with the flow and offer a robotics development platform built around the Roomba formfactor. Robot Magazine has an Introduction and First Look. Here's the juicy bits from the piece:

The iRobot Create comes fully assembled. It has 32 built-in sensors, two powered wheels, a castor (and optional 4th castor wheel), 10 pre-programmed behaviors, an expandable input/ouput port for custom sensors and actuators, a cargo bay with mounting points and a tailgate for ballast. This new bot platform works with optional accessories such as the iRobot Command Module, iRobot Roomba Virtual Wall units, the self-charging home base, and iRobot Roomba standard remote. You can use the Roomba rechargeable battery options or standard alkaline batteries. You'll need a computer with a serial port (USB connectivity is expected soon) and Microsoft Windows XP, Linux or Mac OS X.

The First Look piece on Robot Magazine's site includes some pics of the Create turned into a laundry picker-upper, a store barker, and laser tag robots. Cool!

The Create starts at US$130 for a barebones unit and goes up to $230 for a full kit with Command Module, self-charging station, and two virtual walls. Here's the iRobot Create page.