Hackable Products Better For Planet
by Mark Ontkush, Boston, Massachusetts, USA 
on 08. 8.07
Several years ago, this TH bought a front loading washer; it was expensive, but the sales rep convinced me that it would save water and soap over the long run. What he didn't tell me is that there was a circuit board that controlled how the washer worked - a $300 circuit board, that sometimes breaks and needs to be replaced. It broke. Grrrrrrrr.
But it set the wheels in motion; wouldn't it be great if a programmer could alter the code that runs the washer? One could experiment, even improve on the factory settings to minimize the amount of water and soap used. The new program could be distributed via Internet, folks could upload it into their machines, and billions of gallons of water could be saved worldwide. Turns out, some products have already implemented the concept.
The Roomba is one. It has a fully documented Open Inferface that explains what is going on inside its, er, head. Developers can write code against this interface, and make their Roomba do all sorts of crazy things - respond to cell phone controls, sing Christmas Carols. The Roomba Community has dozens more; couldn't find the 'cleaner floor' code in a quick search, but it could be there.
The other very exciting product is the Zero X motorcycle from Zero Motorcycles. It comes equipped with a programmable ZBrain, a configurable on-board computer. According to ecoGeek, you can tweak the max speed, throttle response, max output current, etc. Similarly to the Roomba, the hacks don't need to be more geared towards efficiency, but they could! The bike connects directly to any Microsoft Windows computer via USB 2.0 cable. :: iRobot :: ecoGeek
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I want to like the Roomba; I really do. But, I've had 3 -- all broke down (2 during the warranty period). I know two other people who had Roombas and both of them also had the Roomba fail inside of a year.
Do you know what's greener than a Roomba and works great on tile or hardwood floors? A broom. Mine hasn't broken in years.
[Tough to not agree with this one mjo]
My rhomba is now two years old and going strong. At one point it seemed to have a complete robo-breakdown and I ran all the debug routines recommended online. No help. Finally, in desperation I drenched the drive wheel bearings and guide bushings in WD-40 (operating on a hunch that dirt had caused a sensor over feedback). It worked! I do this now about once a month. And it continues to work perfectly. If you don't like WD 40 Windex will be almost as good but not last as long between lube jobs. JL
Your post is bang on. Of course, what are we talking about, but a continuation of the age-old expectation that the consumer should be able to fix the product? This cascades into a whole bunch of design strategies, like not using glues, so you can get the thing apart.
That being said, while the Roomba may exemplify open-source software upgradability, which I do admire, I think we must question each and every thing we consume for its true worth and cost to the planet and to humanity. Do we really want to squander precious resources on a robot vacuum? I would rather our best minds work on poverty and health care.
Yes I agree about the broom. I have a “normal” bag-less vacuum and use it once a week or so. Other than that I use the broom. Saves power and does a good job at that! One day at work our vacuum broke down on some one and for a week everyone said “Well its disgusting in this place but what can we do the vacuum is broke” I noticed we had a broom there so I picked it up and started to sweep and they all looked at me like I was crazy, I said “what?” They said “what are you doing?” What do you think? Saving the world