iRobot Create 2

For many of us, the Roomba was the first robot we had in the house. Unfortunately, there was no real way to have it do anything but clean. With the iRobot Create 2, you have a chance to change that. Built using remanufactured Roombas, the Create 2 offers all the sensors, LEDs, and built-in behaviors — like self-charging — of its cleaning cousins as a starting point for your tinkering. It comes with a USB-based communications cable to start programming your own behaviors, and even includes a drilling template in case you decide to start adding hardware, like a camera, gripper arm, or zombie-shredding machete. Basically, it's everything you need to build a real robot — like Anakin building C-3PO, but without all that Midichlorian nonsense.