How to control Roomba via USB or Bluetooth
MAKE blog has a double-dose of infotainment for Roomba owners/lovers: first they show you how to take advantage of the robovac's recently updated firmware to control it and monitor its sensors on a PC via USB, and then they kick it up a notch and mod the rig for wireless control courtesy of Bluetooth. Be forewarned that neither of these builds is for the inexperienced hax0r- you'll need to be pretty handy with a soldering iron, multimeter, and circuit board if you expect to finish successfully. Luckily both mods use the same software, so after you've mastered the tethered connection you can cut up your serial cable and repurpose it for some sweet cellphone control. Props be to SXSW nominee and Engadget main man Phil Torrone for putting this Flickr-annotated project together, and also to iRobot for allowing creative folks to tinker with and improve their products- no doubt we'll be seeing some absolutely sick Roomba-based creations in the near future. Keep on clickin' for a pic of the Bluetooth version...
Read: Wired Control
Read: Wireless Control
