Music Thing: MIDI-powered Roomba Vacuum Cleaner

Each week Tom Whitwell of Music Thing highlights the best of the new music gear that's coming out, as well as noteworthy vintage equipment:

Can there be any greater expression of man's ingenuity than hacking a robotic vacuum cleaner so that it can pay the Mario Brothers theme? Roombas contain a little beeper and several noisy motors. So Tod Kurt decided he could put the whole thing under MIDI control, so you can play a Roomba from a MIDI keyboard, or sequence it from a computer.

Tod wrote a Java application called RoombaMidi, which runs on a Mac driving the Roomba. Connect a keyboard, and when you play an E three octaves below middle C, the robot will spin left. Press the key harder, and it will spin faster. Play a low C sharp and the LED will flash. Hit the key harder, and it will change colour. The low C triggers the vacuum motor, which creates a kind of kick drum thud.

Despite featuring both the Pacman theme and Mario Brothers, Tod's demo video isn't too musical, but the sofware can control up to 16 Roombas over different MIDI channels, so a Roomba orchestra is surely coming soon.

[Russ @ May 26th 2006 2:52PM]

Deja vu...

[comrade @ May 26th 2006 3:03PM]

And we still haven't cured cancer...

(I'm kidding! This is really cool!)

[Peter @ May 26th 2006 3:41PM]

Get really scared if your Roomba starts playing the Close Encounters movie theme song....

[GFB @ May 26th 2006 5:56PM]

Isn't this the first thing they mentioned that created SkyNet? Frisbee-shaped vacuums turning into musical 'bots and then killing people with horrible MIDI songs?

[Chris @ May 26th 2006 6:55PM]

Okay, It is really neat, But this means that this person has way too much time on their hands.

[Jeremy Roush @ May 26th 2006 7:01PM]

#5, at least he is doing something interesting/educational in his spare time, whereas you are posting pointless comments on Engadget.

[Nathan Schmidt @ May 26th 2006 7:21PM]

Sounds more like Strange Brew, eh?

[Jeffler @ May 26th 2006 7:34PM]

"Can there be any greater expression of man's ingenuity than hacking a robotic vacuum cleaner so that it can pay the Mario Brothers theme?"

How much is it earning?

[bliss @ May 26th 2006 7:39PM]

dude... this is awesome.. long live the ROOMBA!

[Flalex @ May 27th 2006 12:33PM]

It plays tunes and it vaccumes! What could be better?

Hey! That kinda rhymes!

[M-Theory @ May 29th 2006 6:36AM]

This is the beginning of the end of western civilisation.
Vacuum cleaners suck.