iRobot Create is a hobbyist robot

Robot

A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

 manufactured by iRobot

IRobot

iRobot Corporation is an American advanced technology company founded in 1990 and incorporated in Delaware in 2000, the iRobot Corporation designs robots such as an autonomous home vacuum cleaner , the Scooba that scrubs and cleans hard floors, and military and police robots, such as the PackBot...

 that is based on the Roomba

Roomba

The Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and common obstacles while vacuuming the floor...

 platform and was introduced in 2007. However, iRobot Create is explicitly designed for robotics development, rather than simply hacking the Roomba. In place of the vacuum hardware of the Roomba, the Create includes a cargo bay which houses a 25 pin port that can be used for digital and analog input and output. The Create also possesses a serial port through which sensor data can be read and motor commands can be issued using the iRobot Roomba Open Interface protocol.

The platform accepts virtually all accessories designed for iRobot's domestic robots and can also be programmed with the addition of a small "command module" (a microcontroller

Microcontroller

A microcontroller is a small computer on a single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM...

 with a USB connector

Universal Serial Bus

USB is an industry standard developed in the mid-1990s that defines the cables, connectors and protocols used in a bus for connection, communication and power supply between computers and electronic devices....

 and four DE-9 expansion ports).

Controller

Due to the limitations in storage space and processing power of the iRobot Command Module, many choose to utilize an external computer in controlling the Create robot. Since the built-in serial port supports the transmission of sensor data and can receive actuation commands, any embedded computer that supports serial communication can be used as the control computer. Popular choices include the gumstix

Gumstix

Gumstix is a company founded in 2003 by Gordon Kruberg that produces small single-board computers. The name Gumstix refers to the size of the first such computer being the approximate size of a stick of gum....

 line of computers.

A number of robot interface server / simulators support the iRobot Create. Most notably, the Player Project

Player Project

The Player Project is a project to create free software for research into robotics and sensor systems . Its components include the Player network server and Stage and Gazebo robot platform simulators...

 have long included a device interface for the Roomba

Roomba

The Roomba is a series of autonomous robotic vacuum cleaners sold by iRobot. Under normal operating conditions, it is able to navigate a living space and common obstacles while vacuuming the floor...

, and has recently developed a Create interface in Player 2.1. The Universal Real-time Behavior Interface (URBI

URBI

Urbi is an open source cross-platform software platform in C++ used to develop applications for robotics and complex systems. Urbi is based on the UObject distributed C++ component architecture. It also includes the urbiscript orchestration language which is a parallel and event-driven script...

) environment also contains a Create interface.

The Microsoft Robotics Studio

Microsoft Robotics Studio

Microsoft Robotics Developer Studio is a Windows-based environment for robot control and simulation. It is aimed at academic, hobbyist, and commercial developers and handles a wide variety of robot hardware....

 and the Webots

Webots

Webots is a professional robot simulator widely used for educational purposes.The Webots project started in 1996, initially developed by Dr. Olivier Michel at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland....

 simulation environment contain IRobot Create models.

Community

Due to its small size and low cost, the iRobot Create is popular in the robotic research community. In particular, research projects in the area of multi-robot networks favors the Create robot. Examples:

• Autonomy Laboratory, Simon Fraser University
  Simon Fraser University
  Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
  
   (R. Vaughan) -emergent object clustering behavior. Website
• Human-Automation Systems Laboratory, Georgia Institute of Technology
  Georgia Institute of Technology
  The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...
  
   - Persistent Formation Control for Multi-Robot Networks.
• The iRobot Create was given out in parts kits for the International Botball
  Botball
  Botball is an educational robotics program that focuses on engaging middle and high school aged students in team-oriented robotics competitions. Thousands of children and young adults participate in Botball’s program...
  
   Competition between 2007 and 2009
• The iRobot Create is used as the main platform for the Autonomous Robotics course at Brown University
  Brown University
  Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
  
  .
• The iRobot Create and a simulator developed in MATLAB
  MATLAB
  MATLAB is a numerical computing environment and fourth-generation programming language. Developed by MathWorks, MATLAB allows matrix manipulations, plotting of functions and data, implementation of algorithms, creation of user interfaces, and interfacing with programs written in other languages,...
  
   are used in the Autonomous Mobile Robots course at Cornell University
  Cornell University
  Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...
  
  . Website
• LAIRS Laboratory, University at Buffalo (Dick Leebo) -Attitude and Angular Velocity Estimation Research.

See also

• Lego Mindstorms
  Lego Mindstorms
  The LEGO Mindstorm series of kits contain software and hardware to create small, customizable and programmable robots. They include a programmable 'Brick' computer that controls the system, a set of modular sensors and motors, and LEGO parts from the Technics line to create the mechanical...
  
  
• Robotis Bioloid
  Robotis Bioloid
  The Robotis Bioloid is a hobbyist and educational robot kit produced by the Korean robot manufacturer Robotis. The Bioloid platform consists of components and small, modular servomechanisms called Dynamixels, which can be used in a daisy-chained fashion to construct robots of various...
  
  
• Vex Robotics Design System
• Big Trak
• Turtle (robot)
  Turtle (robot)
  Turtles are a class of educational robots designed originally in the late 1940s and used in computer science and mechanical engineering training. These devices are traditionally built low to the ground with a roughly hemispheric shell and a power train capable of a very small turning radius...
  
  

External links

• iRobot's Create home page
• C# CreateOI Framework, Open Source C# Programming Framework for iRobot Create
• emss iRobot Create Framework, Open Source C++ Programming Framework for iRobot Create
• COIL, Open Source C Programming Framework for iRobot Create
• iRobot Create DCF Driver Java API for iRobot Create
• Create-Info.Org - the Wiki for the iRobot Create Programmable Robot.
• Element Direct - accessories and add-on's iRobot Create Programmable Robot.
• Adding vision to the iRobot Create, information on interfacing a Create to an Xport Botball Controller (which includes vision and other capabilities)
• Sourcecode, Sensor Help, and even a FREE Remote Control Application with an ActiveX interface to help you get started.
• iRobot Create Simulator, MATLAB-based 2-D Simulator