So, what ever happened to the Roomba programming API that was supposed to be released back in July? Well, I’ve got news for you. According to a reliable source (he said he’d get in trouble if I used his name) you can expect the API and serial interface information in the next couple of weeks. The announcement was supposed to have been made this week, but since Phillip Torrone (of Makezine blog fame) couldn’t make his "Roomba Hacking" tutorial (he missed his flight) that plan has been put on hold.

The down side is that the Roomba will have to remain tethered via a serial link to a computer for it to work. Apparently the processor on-board doesn’t have any reprogrammable memory.

Solution? Wait till sometime next month when the "Roomba Hacking" kit will be released. It will come with a "lipstick" like adapter that plugs into the mystery port on the Roomba. Inside will be an Atmel AVR chip that becomes the master processor for the Roomba. The control dongle will have a USB interface for you to program it with your favorite AVR compiler.