Over in Germany, at the University of Bonn, the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab has developed an interesting and advanced transport platform, which relies on four iRobot Roomba vacuum cleaners. Model 530 of the Roomba was used in the Roomba QuadDrive system, best seen in action on another invention from the German university's robotics laboratory, the semi-famous Robotinho.

Each of the four Roomba vacuums in the QuadDrive use a Robotis Dynamixel RX-64 servo for steering and the whole system can support up to 20 kilograms while being able to move with the top speed of 0.5 m/s. These abilities of the Roomba QuadDrive were exploited by the Robotinho at the 2009 RoboCup and at the Deutsches Museum in Bonn, where it was caught on tape giving tours of the museum to visitors.

The fact that German students have managed to build an omnidirectional system from four iRobot Roomba 530s is quite amazing since the Roomba QuadDrive seems to be practical for a lot of scenarios, while also being able to sweep a little, keeping the floors it is being used on clean. The computer you see guiding the whole system is a Lenovo X200.

If you take a look on the website of the Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab at the University of Bonn, you will see that Robotinho only weighs 6 kilograms and has a lot of advanced functions including facial expressions, advanced communication skills and space awareness. It even has a wife, but there's more on that in the clip I've embedded as well. The dimensions of Robotinho qualified it for the TeenSize category at the RoboCup Humanoid League in 2009, but this doesn't mean it is less capable than other robots out there. Hizook and engadget also have details about the Roomba QuadDrive and Robotinho.



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