Today, I’ve got another exhibit to add to the awesome visualizations that can result from a little chaos in practice. The image below comes from a blog called SignalTheorist courtesy of Gizmodo. It is the result of a 30 minute exposure in a darkened room as a roomba carried out its duties.

While it looks like utter chaos, a closer look reveals a small spiral centered almost in the middle of the crook of the L. I don’t know exactly how a roomba works, but I’d surmise that the center of this spiral was the roomba’s starting point. Once it feels out the dimensions of the space it looks like the roomba then begins a seemingly chaotic cleaning cycle. I think it’s almost worth grabbing a roomba and running some tests to see if any portion of the initial spiral follows the Golden Ratio or if it’s a constant expansion. If any reader of the Sector has a roomba or is about to become the proud parent of one please conduct some tests or if you don’t mind me nerding it up let me know and I’ll be glad to help. You never know, we may even make you an honorary member of the Sector (and a guest post to boot).
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