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Roomba by iRobot

 

Sensors

The Roomba uses a variety of sensors, bumpers and infrared signals to navigate and detect objects. Upon starting the Roomba sends out an infrared signal and detects how long it will take to come back to the infrared receiver. From this information it determines how big the room is and how long it will take to clean. The bottom the Roomba has a number of downward facing cliff sensors to detect a drop off (e.g. Stairs) and stop the Roomba form falling. The bottom front of the Roomba has object sensors to tell the Roomba it has encountered an obstacle, it then performs a series of actions to avoid said obstacle.

Controllers

Roomba is controlled using, iRobot’s AWARE Robotic Intelligence System, which feeds information from the sensors to the Roombas on board microprocessor which alters the Roombas actions accordingly.

Actuators/End Effectors

There is total of 5 motors controlling the two wheels (one each), one driving the vacuum, one driving the brush and one driving the agitator assembly. There is also, obliviously, a vacuum which acts as a kind of end effector, because it collects rubbish and stores it within the Roomba.

What It Does

As mentioned before, the Roomba uses an infrared sensor to map out a room and determine how long it will take to clean. Then it sets about vacuuming the room through the use of its wall and stair sensors that help in to not get stuck. When it encounters a wall or stair, the Roomba identifies it as being the perimeter of the room and moves along it until it reaches an obstacle. It then moves around the obstacle and continues on the perimeter. In later models the Roomba identifies when it has low battery and moves back to the charger to charge itself.

What its Used for

The Roomba is a small robotic Vacuum meaning that it can clean small objects and move around the house with minimal human interference. Despite this the Roomba should be seen as a supplement to a normal human-moved vacuum, not a replacement.