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Man Controls Roomba With Wii Balance Board, Atari-Era Surfin' USA Soundtrack
Posted by Jack Loftus at 4:30 AM on August 25, 2008
Ron Tajima has some time on his hands. And a Roomba. And a Wii Balance Board. See where we're going with this? Anyway, he put them all together, combined it with a Surfin' USA track that sounds like it was ripped from the 1980's, and now he can control the previously autonomous Roomba with his feet. "This is my third Roomba hacking," Tajima says. "This surfin is safe, useful (it's cleaning), and easy for nerds. Wii balance board is great!" Indeed it is, Tajima-san, indeed it is. Maybe there's a reason for me to take the Balance Board out from underneath my TV and use it again.
Now, this post is similar to Juan González did back in June with his robot, but we'd argue it lacks the personality of Tajima's cleaning creation, which combines vacuuming with limited physical fitness.
And, let's face it, stumbling around Azeroth and Google Earth has nothing on a Roomba. [Wii Balance Board Blog via Kotaku]
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
There are currently no AU comments for this post.
AJ_Syrinx
Posted 4:52 AM 25/8/08
@Jack Loftus:
Comments like yours ("...reason to take my balance board from under my TV and use it again") make me glad I never got the Wii Fit.
AJ_Syrinx
Hvedhrungr
Posted 4:49 AM 25/8/08
Robots will take over the world solely to punish mankind for this kind of abuse.
Other than that, hooray for nerd fitness!
Hvedhrungr
StealthNinja
Posted 5:10 AM 25/8/08
too bad that Roomba doesn't have a bluetooth speaker/ boombox added to it! or a stobe lights and a disco lights, so that you can surf to the anthem! Or maybe add a Pico holographic 3-d laser video projector to it also! that would be so cool, and add a disc drive that could play and record/ burn blueray discs, dvd's, cd's, or xbox/ PSP/ WII/ Playstation games or PC games with the Roomba PICO projector, and maybe add a kaoreoke machine and a umpc docking station so that they can all charge together too! And voice recognition software applications, and wifi! That would be alot of fun!
Tchao- Fabian- THE StealthNinja.
StealthNinja
Curves
Posted 5:10 AM 25/8/08
The vacuum eye view made me kinda dizzy, but other than that it was cool. At least he cleans his place, more than a lot of folks do.
Curves
ichi1
Posted 7:09 AM 25/8/08
and I don't mean 'crap'
ichi1
ichi1
Posted 7:08 AM 25/8/08
wii fit errrr replace the fit with a common word for excrement
ichi1
Kingteddybear
Posted 8:10 AM 25/8/08
That dude needs to find a GF.... way to much time on his lonely hands.
Kingteddybear
dc-united
Posted 1:24 PM 25/8/08
Best reason to own a Wii fit --> if you're a golfer. Practice your stance while standing on the board. The balance test will tell you unambiguously how your weight is distributed.
Just don't do it with spikes on. (I'm here to help)
dc-united
cmantito
Posted 1:54 PM 25/8/08
That's kinda cool. Combination of various bits of technology that seemed rather silly when they first came out. I like it. ^^
cmantito
skulldriveshaft
Posted 4:06 PM 25/8/08
soooo, we're getting back to the vacuum cleaner, just missing the stick.
interesting.
remote workers on fit boards, cleaning my house, using a non threatening robot.
i swear to god someone is going to make this into a business model and make millions.
i will copyright and patent this method simultaneously, you owe me big time.
skulldriveshaft
macrumpton
Posted 9:36 PM 25/8/08
Why is he vacuuming his closet?
macrumpton
TBM-Fan
Posted 12:58 AM 26/8/08
too bad the sound was very annoying other then that
nice way to clean your house and you will get a better balanced body through it
TBM-Fan
codemagic
Posted 2:29 AM 26/8/08
This guy should hook up with the Wii Fit Hula girl. She's obviously in the market after her prior BF posted her butt on YouTube.
codemagic
seancron
Posted 8:59 AM 26/8/08
Was I the only one that noticed he said "clearned"? (1:18)
seancron
cr1f150
Posted 3:45 AM 26/8/08
I don't really need to vacuum since I protect my carpet with a layer of clothes. More importantly, he showed me a nice trick on how to eat cheesy snacks without turning the mouse orange. yay for chopsticks
cr1f150
eagles3620
Posted 5:47 AM 25/8/08
was he eating cheetos with chopsticks?
come on now
eagles3620