The University of Bonn’s Autonomous Intelligent Systems Lab has come up with an “omnidirectional mobile robot” that moves around using four Roombas. To keep the Roomba QuadDrive from walking at the direction where dirt is located, each Roombas is equipped with a Robotis Dynamixel RX-64 servo for steering purposes.
According to the AIS Lab, the QuadDrive can support loads up to 20 kilos and can move at a maximum speed of 0.5 meter per second.
Technically, the Roomba QuadDrive has yet to have a body, but it has already rendered its service to another robot created by the lab. The Robotinho not only surfed on top of the QuadDrive during the 2009 RoboCup competition, but also moved around the Deutsches Museum in Bonn as it served as a tour guide for kids.
