RoombaWii: you know where this is headed

People have come up with numerous ways to control their Roombas -- USB, Bluetooth, MacBook tilt sensors, and even a MIDI keyboard -- and now that the Wiimote has been hacked to operate several non-Wii devices -- computers, home automation systems, and even an RC truck -- it's no surprise that some clever modder would make these two great tastes taste great together. And sure enough, a gentleman named Chris Hughes has just completed a script that merges Tod Kurt's Roomba control software with the recently released DarwinRemote, resulting in a little slavebot that scoots around using just a flick of your wrist. As you might expect, tilting the Wiimote forward and backward causes Roomba to move in those directions, while tilting it side to side sends the vacuum spinning either clockwise or counter-clockwise. There's a slight delay between manipulating the Wiimote and Roomba actually executing a command, though luckily Chris has kindly provided his RoombaWii script for download, so perhaps you can play around with it and reduce some of that latency. You can check out a short vid of his setup after the break, but if the term "flippin' awesome" is considered a little too racy for your office, you may have to file this one under NSFW....

[Isaac @ Dec 27th 2006 10:44AM]

Wow... I, for one, hereby award thee, "The Most Disturbingly Unrelated Engadget Post Ever" award. Or maybe we should call it "Unrelated and Disturbing", although I've seen some pretty disturbing posts on here...

[Jamar @ Dec 27th 2006 12:10AM]

aim some infrared emitters at the cameras so they can't record anything. The Wii's sensor bar will do in a pinch. For the phone, get a cell phone that 's not analog- those are always encrypted. For the computer, get a Mac or run Knoppix off of a LiveCD. If she gets around all that, live iwth a friend for a couple of nights- if she keeps stalking you then she is definitely doing something illegal.

[T-WRX @ Dec 26th 2006 10:34PM]

Ben Affleck? Is that you?

[TeddyN @ Dec 26th 2006 5:47PM]

Hahahaha! It will in fact be us, rather than the robots, who will control the world... Only with the help of our Wii allies, however. Perhaps we should just surrender to Nintendo now...

W00t, I love this 30" screen @ the apple store!

[TeddyN @ Dec 26th 2006 5:47PM]

Hahahaha! It will in fact be us, rather than the robots, who will control the world... Only with the help of our Wii allies, however. Perhaps we should just surrender to Nintendo now...

W00t, I love this 30" screen @ the apple store!

[Tyler @ Dec 27th 2006 11:54AM]

Very interesting idea, although I thought the Roomba could use to be a tad more responsive. None the less, there seem to be endless creative ways to hack the Wii remote.

[Cris @ Sep 18th 2007 7:41AM]

That's a clean act for the Wiimote ;-)

[Zeb @ Dec 26th 2006 12:41PM]

Oh boy, here we go again.

[Elliott @ Dec 26th 2006 12:52PM]

ermmmm...I, for one, welcome our Nintendo controller clad, floor sucking robot overlords.

[Mrfreezie @ Dec 26th 2006 1:10PM]

For those who want to watch, the NWS word is right after he stops showing off the remote ability. As soon as he puts his remote down, he then says it. Just incase you wanted to avoid the word.

[Nubaeus @ Dec 26th 2006 1:54PM]

I never dreamed that playing with my Wii could accomplish so much! My mom said I'd just go blind.

[Isaac @ Dec 26th 2006 4:07PM]

ROFLMFAO! Hahahaha, good one.

[nikster @ Dec 26th 2006 6:17PM]

Gayle, be careful, they are reading your engadget newsblog entries too.

Seriously, if you are so concerned why don't you learn a thing or two about technology. Cell phones can't be hacked - use any GSM phone, cingular or t-mobile, they come with encryption.
If you are afraid your computer has been hacked, either get a Mac, or get some security hacker geek to wipe your machine free of trojans. If your email account has been hacked, switch to only using https and/or ssh to access your email (hint: it's encrypted!) and then change your password.
There are many ways to render cameras useless, the MPIAA has devised a few recently.

[Pinhead @ Dec 26th 2006 9:10PM]

Why is this person posting this information on engadget? First thing that I would do is what any american would do, go buy a gun. =D Btw, I'm not sure if this Gayle should be taken seriously.

[Noa @ Dec 27th 2006 6:38AM]

matt damon

[Peff_D @ Dec 27th 2006 12:28PM]

Wait... doesn't the roomba drive itself?

Hmmm... not that automation is the answer (far from it) - but you took something that was automated and made it manual...

Why again?