It figures. You spend a ton of time making a cool set of costumes and then you can’t get your kid to pose for a picture. It’s okay though, we still get the point. This themed set of costumes dresses the little one as a Roomba vacuuming robot while mom and dad are suited up as virtual walls (modules that are used to keep the bot from falling down stairs, etc.). It’s fun and unique, but had it not been for some additional electronics this would have been relegated to a links post. For safety sake each costume was outfitted with a ring of LEDs. As a challenge, the lights were given the ability to sync up patterns with each other.
Each costume has a circular frame at the top with a set of RGB LED strings attached. To get them to display synchronized patterns an IR transmitter/receiver board was designed and ordered from OSHPark. Each costume has four of these modules so no matter where the wearers are facing it should not break communications. A demo of the synchronized light rings can be seen after the break
Awesome :D
I sooo feel their pain. My son wanted to be a robot for a few years back. He would only wear it in the house and out right refused to wear it on Halloween or to costume parties. I ended up carrying the costume all night and when people asked what he was dressed up as the answer was ‘naked robot’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uz8zfVpa29Y&feature=share&list=UU51PwjtSNO06id5tIwztF9A
Hmm, not the video link I copied…
http://youtu.be/uz8zfVpa29Y
Haha, that’s funny, and almost genius, had it been planned.
Roomba’s virtual wall is just that. A virtual wall. It prevents the Roomba from going to other places. The Roomba already has a cliff sensor to prevent it from falling off the stairs.
It really sucks that after spending tons of time and the intended user just ignored it.
Haha, this is from our costume contest at work. Funny.
i won one of those roomba vacs in a vending machine in japan.