A Modified Racing Roomba Takes On an Obstacle Course at UC Berkeley’s Student Vehicle Challenge

Roland Saekow of Make Cool Stuff turned his 10-year-old Roomba Discovery 4210 vacuuming robot into a racing bot that took on an obstacle course at UC Berkeley‘s annual student vehicle challenge. Roland also captured footage (part 1 and 2) of some of the other innovative laser cut and 3D printed robots that appeared at the student challenge.

I removed the stock motors and gearbox on my 10 year old Roomba and replaced them with large 600+ RPM planetary gear motors. The motor controller was also replaced, it is using a Sabertooth 2×12. The standard 14 volt Roomba battery is still used.

The annual challenge is part of an introduction to prototyping and fabrication course at the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation on the UC Berkeley campus where I work.