myRoomBud
gives the iRobot Roomba
(multiple) personalities
myRoomBud
makes available programmed
personalities to match
the characteristics of
the RoomBud costumes ...
so watch Roobit hop, Roor
roar and RoomBette wiggle. Acton,
Mass., June 5, 2006
-- The
entrepreneurial kids at
myRoomBud
(www.myroombud.com)
have taken the next big
step in personalizing
your iRobot® Roomba®
Vacuuming Robot. Since
2005, myRoomBud™
has been selling RoomBud™
costume covers to the
owners of the 2 million
Roomba robots and turning
their vacuuming robots
into pets. Now, the RoomBuds
have been given (multiple)
personalities. RoomBud
Personalities enhance
the Roomba pet experience
by "teaching"
your Roomba to act like
the pet or character trapped
deep inside it. Roobit
the Frog hops around,
Roor the Tiger growls
then pounces, and RoomBette
La French Maid wiggles
its behind at you before
vacuuming your room. Roomba
robots contain an interface
that allows you to control
or modify Roomba's behavior
and remotely monitor its
sensors. myRoomBud uses
the iRobot Roomba Open
Interface and RooTooth
(a Bluetooth dongle specifically
designed for Roomba by
RoboDynamics
– www.robodynamics.com)
to have Roomba and a PC
talk to one another. Software
programs were written
to make each RoomBud character
do its thing. The 'myRoomBud
Is Alive Dashboard'™
or MIAD (pronounced 'maid')
is available for download
on the myRoomBud web site.
In the works are RoomBud
personalities that talk
to you through your PC
and voice command recognition
so you can speak to your
Roomba. Let's just hope
that when you give your
Roomba a command to clean
up it's room, the Roomba
does not turn around and
ask you "why?" Videos
of the RoomBud personalities
can be viewed on-line
at http://www.myroombud.com/itsalive.html “This
is exactly the kind of
entrepreneurial development
that RoboDynamics wants
to see happen,” noted
Fred Nikgohar, Chief Executive
Officer of RoboDynamics
Corporation. “With
the advent of Roomba SCI
and the various development
tools RoboDynamics provides
to Roomba Developers,
we fully expect a new
breed of ventures that
will utilize the iRobot
Roomba Vacuuming Robot
as a powerful robotic
platform that is limited
only by ones imagination.
We congratulate the entire
crew at myRoombBud for
a job well done and look
forward to further collaboration
over the upcoming years.” "This
is just sick!" said
Niles Smith, cofounder
of myRoomBud. "We
sort of feel like little
Dr. Frankensteins."
While Roomba personalities
bring the robots to (psedo)life
for fun, the idea of having
a Roomba do more than
just vacuum such as having
Alfred the RoomButler
to go along with RoomBette
La French Maid is a real
possibility. "We
are mapping out our house
so that we can have the
Roomba carry messages
between our bedrooms,"
noted Tyler Smith, another
cofounder. With the use
of a Roomba command program
written by their father,
the myRoomBud kids are
busy turning their Roomba
Vacuuming Robot into the
next R2-D2 or C3P0.
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