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Real Life Roomba Frogger!! (w/ pic)

news.com.com — This is hilarious! These guys play Frogger with a Roomba and successfully get across 40 lanes before getting crushed!

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  • digitalgopher, on 10/12/2007, -0/+17Photo slideshow of the project:

    http://news.com.com/2300-1041_3-6049976-1.html?tag=ne.gall.pg
    • Beanlover, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Everyone please block johnjoseph12 for spamming these stupid links in all the frontpage stories.
  • gamerzworld, on 10/12/2007, -9/+5its been so long since ive played Frogger!
    +digg
  • Saint3k, on 10/12/2007, -5/+28Wow, isn't that dangerous?
    • jals, on 10/12/2007, -5/+29Just what I was thinking. I'm all for fun and games, but if someone swerved to avoid this thing there could be a bit of an accident.
    • LaughingMan11, on 10/12/2007, -2/+31Maybe dangerous for the Roomba :D.

      But seriously, it does seem to have the risk of causing an accident... a car comes by, runs it over, blows a tire... seems very bad...
    • MadMan459, on 10/12/2007, -11/+28Dangerous and stupid. Kudos to anyone posting to this that realizes that playing games on a busy highway is not a great idea. I wonder how fun these jerks would have thought their game was if it caused someone to die in a traffic accident? If I saw that I would have turned around and kicked their asses, after stomping the ***** out of their little toy. Seriously.
    • nogami, on 10/12/2007, -12/+15Stupid idiots - what happens when a driver sees a foreign object on the road and swerves to avoid it and goes right into a minivan full of kids.

      I hope the cops get called on these jackasses and they get convicted...
    • thomashallock, on 10/12/2007, -2/+116th street at night ain't exactly a highway. It's so packed with end-to-end bars that often-times they'll close the street down comeletely and let the innebriated pedestrians wander about. When there are cars, they seldom go more than 10 MPH.
    • thenorwegian, on 10/12/2007, -4/+9yeah if i saw this on the road i would try to avoid it...this was just a stupid, juvenile idea.
    • Xopl, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3It was on a city street. Not the highway. Low speeds. Nobody was gonna get killed.
    • theISABELfish, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2All they have to do is add a sign on it that says "Please run over me!" and it'll be just real Frogger.
  • cgy01, on 10/12/2007, -24/+4no video = no digG!
  • prockcore, on 10/12/2007, -18/+3haha.. "Kyle Machulis, an expert in "teledildonics"--sex toys that are controlled remotely via the Internet."

    Less Frogger, more Leisure Suit Larry!
  • GeneHACKman, on 10/12/2007, -14/+5Next?

    Grand Theft Auto: Sixth Street.

    Let me know when that starts.
  • hordak, on 10/12/2007, -3/+14Ha! This goes right up there with the Frogger-based Seinfeld episode.
    • blobzorz, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6That was one of the top 10 seinfeld episodes.

      Anyway, good idea at the time, but stupid idea when they did it
  • zeeneo, on 10/12/2007, -13/+2what kind of country has 40 lanes?!
    • camintmier, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4It was probably a 4-lane road, and since it crossed the street 10 times, 4 x 10 = 40 lanes.
  • volcomjerk, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2That was a fun read. Sounds like an expensive game =|
  • DocXango, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Just what I need, another reason to go to 6th street. Seriously though, it's 6th street late at night, all the drivers are too drunk to swerve.
  • Jyuu, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4I really LMAO'ed at that one!
  • interiot, on 10/12/2007, -10/+8OMFG. If this is a sign of western boredom and waste, it's certainly a very memorable and amusing one. Kudos to whoever thought of this.
  • jabelar, on 10/12/2007, -6/+7People will swerve for paper bags on the road ... could have caused an accident easily!
    • Prol1fic, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6And there are jackasses out there who put bricks in paper bags and place them in the middle of the road for "fun".
  • jackington, on 10/12/2007, -2/+12Why would you do something like this and not capture it on video? What the hell is wrong with people?
    • 9Digits, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Probably because of the much-higher ability of the Austin PD to successfully prosecute with video. Notice that there are no license plates showing here, thus it's a lot harder to bring a complaint.
  • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16This just begs for a video. Directly overhead of course.

    There was a funny Seinfeld episode when George gets the high score on an arcade game of Frogger. He buys the machine and attempts to carry it across the busy new york street, Frogger style.
  • MasterDwarf, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I wonder if they had Frogger music jammin on a nearby sound stage. Life imitates video game.
  • camintmier, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4Hop, ribbit.
    Hop, ribbit.
    Hop, beep beep!!!
    Hop, thump thump...
  • brandizzle, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5That's ***** badass. I want it. Now.

    I'm really suprised that they didn't get sued though, for causing a person to swerve to avoid it, or anything else of the sort.
  • SenyorDrew, on 10/12/2007, -6/+3What's a roomba and how big is it?
    • Sgeo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roomba

      It's basically an automatic vaccum thing that apparently is programmable
    • asplodzor, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4"Roomba is a robotic vacuum cleaner made and sold by iRobot. It is marketed as a Robotic Floorvac. The Roomba was first released in 2002 with updates and new models released in 2003, 2004, and 2005. As of May 2005, over 1.2 million units have been sold, making it the most successful domestic robot so far."

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roomba

      Update: sorry Sqeo, should have refreshed
  • TheD, on 10/12/2007, -8/+8If I was on a motorcycle. I would have swerved around it, fliped around at the next block, and beat the living hell out of that queen and his mother.
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -8/+6*****. Your flabby little geek ass would have hit the throttle to GTF outta there quick, as you were racing away, you would think up some fantasy about how you dealt retribution to those that would bully you with their hacked roomba, then you would have ran home to post said fantasy on your myspace page.
  • GhengisKhan, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5You talk about people who don't have enough to do with thier lives....
  • megabytehl, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6"Get pictures of it now because it's not going to look like this" for long, said Kyle Machulis, an expert in "teledildonics"--sex toys that are controlled remotely via the Internet.

    ...holy *****, did I read that correctly...hahaha
  • RadiatedAnt, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2Hahahahha frogger in real life...im laughing while my professor drones about "Rom bios" which he pronounces "Rom By Oss...>_>)
    • tintub, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1how do you pronounce it? Rom By Oss is pretty accurate (although you don't state where he stresses. Rom By *Oss*) might sound a bit odd.
  • mongoos150, on 10/12/2007, -11/+3Like the Seinfeld episode - Costanza trying to get his frogger machine across the street!
    • GeneHACKman, on 10/12/2007, -7/+9OMG. Please stop saying "Seinfeld!". We know already. Read the comments before you post. The stoners have overtaken Digg.
    • callmejordy265, on 10/12/2007, -5/+0genehackman, that might involve work.
    • Petronski, on 10/12/2007, -4/+4Hackman, try decaf.
  • mogdor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+11What morons. This could really damage somebody's car, or worse yet, injure or kill someone. They look old enough to know better, instead they sit there giggling about it like a couple of stupid 15-year olds. Someone should report this site to the local police and get them arrested.
  • callmejordy265, on 10/12/2007, -8/+4so...here we are...us rich old United States bastards...we could be finding the cure for cancer or trying to get to mars...or maybe even trying to banish oil..but hey, who gives a *****, all that stuff doesnt matter, so lets all go play some frogger with a freakin rumba.

    that was sarcasm if you didnt notice
  • whoatemydigg, on 10/12/2007, -6/+5Our culture is weird. If somebody did this in a movie or television show everyone would be like "Cool, that rocks." But when people do that in real life, its like "those idiots could have killed someone!" This culture is a little screwy when people can accept a fictional piece that advocates such acts as fun but condemn it if it is ever acted out in real life. Its especially screwy how people talk, laugh and speak about fictional pieces with such admiration and seriousness as though it were real life -eg Star wars, LOTR, Matrix, Seinfeld whatever.
    • Metal_Guru, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2Weird yeah... they can accept watching violence, but cowar when it's their turn under the knife. But it is true that some things are funny and interesting to watch only in fiction and best left as "don't try this at home".
      Although I'm not sure what side you are taking. This is one that shouldn't take place anywhere (unless the script was more engenious).
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -7/+3I agree. And all the pad-clad-helmet-wearing safety dweebs out here are completely distorting the issue out of proportion. Nobody is going to do a mad swerve on a street where traffic never exceeds 25 MPH and cause an accident.

      Not only do I approve and applaud the RL Frogger crew, I also had unprotected sex multiple times with my last girlfriend, I eat steaks and *gasp* hamburgers cooked medium rare, I dial my cell phone while driving, I never drive less than 10 MPH over the posted speed limit (except when stopping or accelerating from a stop, or my V1 tells me the man is up ahead). I've even been known to deliberately drive down the wrong side of the road. And I've never injured anyone, and I haven't been in a collision since I adopted my speed policy some 17 years ago. AND I get the good driver discount from my insurance company because I haven't gotten a ticket for quite a few years.

      IMO it's all the safety nazis that cause injuries by planting the seeds of self-fulfilling prophecy in the minds of the weak.
    • AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Because in fiction and movies it is a controlled environment, this is not. This is something that the people driving do not know about beforehand and don't have a script telling them what they should do and what the object crossing the road is. Fiction and movies have stunt drivers and professionals. This could have caused an accident where someone could have gotten injured or even killed. Sounds to me that you can't comprehend the line between fiction and reality. Like Metal Guru said, not everything you see on TV should be acted out in real life. Not everyone should reenact their favorite jackass stunt just because they see it on TV. Do you not understand that concept?
    • AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Panique;

      The difference is you are putting your own health at risk, not someone elses, besides maybe when you drive on the wrong side of the road on purpose for whatever reason. Anyway, these guys weren't in harms way, the drivers could have been. You haven't injured anyone or had a collision yet? well, I haven't died yet, that must mean it's never going to happen. This has nothing to do with being a safety nazi and everything to do with being responsible and having consideration for the people around you. That's what this world needs more of and sounds like what you need more of.
    • streetstealth, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Yeah, seriously, dude, let's learn to separate movies and reality.

      I'm a big fan of crime films myself; guess how many real-life heists I've participated in?


      I agree that this would have been hilarious in a movie to the same degree that I agree it was downright stupid and dangerous in real life.
    • panique, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1@AdamCo - Thank you for illustrating my point about overreacting. The time I drove down the wrong side of the road it was about 3AM and there wasn't a car in sight on a quiet country road. You can call that irresponsible if you like, I just think it's funny someone would get their panties in a bunch about it. LOL
    • AdamCo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2panique;

      I don't see anywhere that I illustrated your point of overreacting and I certainly am not getting "my panties in a bunch" over something you did, sorry.
    • mogdor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Just ignore panique, he seems like someone who just likes to try and get under peoples' skin. I'm guessing he likes to wear those bunched up panties he keeps talking about.
  • coolgeek61813, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4a waste of a robotic vacuum cleaner but I must say it is mildly entertaining
  • WolfNinja, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Pretty stupid. If they had caused an accident and someone was injured (either a motorist or a pedestrian watching their little experiment), this would have been a very different story. I wish they were arrested.
  • dotuplink, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2a. Is this legal? Fogger in real life doesn't sound very legal
    b. I want one
    c. What if you could program it with infrared beacons and have it autonomously play frogger.
  • CJHtxGeek, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1lol, I wish I was there, I live in austin, go to 6th street all the time, hehe.
  • AKron, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Not cool with my $$$ Roomba. Controlling one is built-in to the machine via serial port, a no-brainer for most.
  • PSyMastR, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1This seems really cool, I only wished if they videotaped it.
  • Nymo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Those Darn SUVs.. Reminds Me Of A Little Someting Mega 64 Had Done..
  • dombi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2Idiots! I hope that they get in trouble for this crap. They could have caused a serious accident.
  • gooru, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2This is kickass! I want to do this now. Good thing I found a Roomba four days ago. Someone had apparently thrown it out the window of our apartment building replete with manuals and box.
  • larfus, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1That first photo is a perfect product placement picture.
  • oldcyborg, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1OK, I WAS here!! Then I went to wikiPedia... I guess.
    I was interested in vac part, as opposed to the highway crossing. How well do they work?? Anybody have one? Send me an email at mikes@wvadventures.net Even if you have one and it doesn't work, send me some info. I like this idea....

    Cyborg
    yes
    • MrMysterious, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1I love my scheduler. It is extremely tough and does a great job. Every day at 3:30pm.
  • afruff23, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0This makes me want to get a roomba, mod it wiht bluetooth, and buy a bluetooth phone. Not for what they did though. I could vacuum my house from my seat(I've heard the roomba isn't that good with edges and my room is filled with crevices). Plus it could be funny to annoy people with it.
  • hockeygoon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5I would of swerved just to run those morons over.
  • Metal_Guru, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5Not only does it look pointlessly dangerous (I'd hate to be the one trying to avoid driving over it), it is also nothing to write home about. It isn't cool to destroy gadgets and technology just like that, every geek knows that.
    "Everyone hoping that it would get crushed..." Bastards. Isn't there an organization against cruelty to household appliances?
  • cpmoser, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5Idiots. Putting other people's lives in danger for their own amusement.

    Throw the book at 'em.
  • serra, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Wow, those people must be really really bored!
  • monsieurgrand02, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3That's awesome. Now lets do it across a highway or freeway.
  • bonlebon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2$100 this thing doesn't make it on Houston's I-45 at anytime of the day.
  • cfazzini, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2That's awesome.
  • PrayerNeeder, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Not funny, and not especially geeky. I could have done the same when I was 12 and had a remote control car. Why didn't I? I knew even at 12 that it was a stupid, destructive thing to do. Had they modded the roomba for speed and put on a roomba race, that would have been cute. Painted a red and white #3 on it, and they mighta brang a tear to some Dale Earnhardt fans. You might even have pleased his widow, Theresa.

    Or had these guys reversed the fan and modded it for hovering down the river, that would have been geeky, and relatively harmless.

    What is geeky about endangering peoples' lives!?
  • osuadh, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3Man people are amazingly safety conscious on digg. I have to say its a little bit of an exaggeration to say that they were "endangering peoples' lives" as prayerneeder put it. I doubt running over a roomba at 15 mph is going to kill anyone. And anyone who swerves into someone else to avoid a green spot in the road is just a bad driver.

    So pretty much this is awesome. You have to admit, driving a roomba back and forth across a street trying not to get it run over is pretty l33t.
  • scott1, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Only problem if you lose you lose about $300
    +digg.
    • mikemil828, on 10/12/2007, -5/+3So? Some People bet 10 grand over a single hand of poker, if they want to waste their cash, fine. If you guys get jumpy over a roomba going back and forth over what seems to be a downtown road right in front of a stop light, then ask for legislation to arrest squirells, jackrabbit and related vermin if they try to dart across a road "DAMN THAT SQUIRELL IT COULD HAVE CAUSED AN ACCIDENT!!!!"
  • Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3What incredible, irresponsible jackasses. I know it's unlikely, but I really hope the cops track these ***** down and charge them.
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