Custom 8-bit Roombas created for Super iam8bit

Though the LA art show Super iam8bit ended September 10, it lives on in our hearts (and archived articles). But one new way to remember it is through the short montage of custom “character covers” created by the company iRobot and fabricator Kelice Penny. The video was put together by the iam8bit production company, and the 8-bit characters were crafted by hand, mounted to Roombas, and left to roam around the gallery floor guided only by their own circuitry. You can check them out below.

Custom Character Roombas (for SUPER iam8bit) from iam8bit Productions on Vimeo.

The four characters are a Goomba, a red shell, and a green shell from Super Mario and the last (and largest) is an Octorok from The Legend of Zelda. Like most of the gallery, they're based on iconic games, so you may have already known who they were. What you might not of been able to tell is that the Roombas were still fully functional with the character covers in place — not only do custom 8-bit Roombas make great art, but they clean the floor with maximum efficiency.

Sep 19, 2011