RoombaOI Hacker

UV light option

eagleye — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 20:35:58 GMT

I like the UV light idea and I think it would be a very simple modification. Just change the Vacuum/Dust chamber for the UV Light. The connector is already built in to supply a voltage for the Vacuum Motor, that might be able to supply power for the UV Lamp.

This could be an optional accessory. For safety, the programming could be modified that if it was ever picked up, the light immediately turns off. The brushes could also be disabled that could save energy and supply more power to the UV Lamp. It would also be much quieter.

Now, the question is how bright does the UV light need to be and can the roomba continue on at the same speed across the floor with enough time for the UV light to disinfect the surface below?

Tech Support missing

frustrated — Tue, 26 May 2009 22:20:02 GMT

I have a Roomba that has been having problems (after 3 months). The number provided in the manual for "customer care" is a recording about battery problems. This suggests a systemic problem with the battery - but worse, after three days of trying, I have not been able to talk to anyone. I put my phone on speaker while I worked and after 20 minutes, still no answer. I wish I had done a bit of research prior to buying this. My experience is that iRobot is after sales, and offers extremely poor (or zero) cutomer service.

5XX ROI: Clock & Schedule

dlilienthal — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 02:26:14 GMT

The 500 Series ROI provides for setting the clock and schedule but there doesn't seem to be a way to read and verify this data. Is there a way to do this?

Also, is there a way to determine either model number or series using the ROI?

Thanks.

Problems

Camaro — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:54:22 GMT

I am on my fourth Roomba in less than 4 months. This last one didn't last a day and it won't charge. I am sending it back this week after waiting two weeks to get a replacement. The people on the technical support line are just reading from a script that they have in front of them.

I have two rommba's and two charging bases. My 4150 model works just fine. I really do love the product when it work it works great. I just wonder how long it will last after the warranty is up.

OI Capable Roombas

BenWirz — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:23:04 GMT

Dear iRobot Tech Support,

Could you please provide a list of Roomba's which do and do not support the Open Interface. This has been a point of confusion.

Thanks,

Ben

5xx OSMO

dasyar316 — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:50:21 GMT

Is iRobot going to mailing out an OSMO to all? What does OSMO stand for? When the OSMO updates the 5xx firmware will there be any problems for us that have some programs written for the unit? I hope these questions are not to propriatary in scope. If the moderators here cannot answer these questions, can you direct me to the place that can answer the questions.

Thanks

5xx Packet ID: For VWLH

dasyar316 — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 21:51:53 GMT

I am not sure how to use this information: 0LLLL0BB, at least the LLLL part. The docs state, this is assigned automatically by Roomba 560 and 570 robots, what if you have a 510, 530, 535, or a 550? If you are going to use this ID, don't you need this info in advance. When you approach an LH, and you request the info, you need something to compare it too. I can see this would come in handy if you have two or more LH's, and each one had a unique ID. But I do not see anyway of assigning the LH with that ID.

If these are to technical too have them answered by the moderators (iRobot employees) here, is there a tech department which will receive the email and answer the questions? Since iRobot distributes some very terse docs, I think that you would expect that response. I have alot more questions, but if I am not going to get any timely responses, then, please let me know how to go about this.

Thanks

5xx Light Bumper Package ID: 45 - 51

dasyar316 — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 19:26:55 GMT

Hello, are there any moderators out there.

As I was looking through the docs, I did not find the corelation between the range (0 - 4095), and mm or inches. What kind of range can we expect from the Light Bumper IR LED setup. I expect that the wall following IR LED setup is still about two inches? Looking from the front of the roomba 5xx, it looks like the Light Bumper setup is about 60 degress off the center, am I correct in this assumption? I still think the roomba could still use the wall folowing IR LED's on both sides. Just trying to get an idea of how usefull this new IR LED array will be.

Thanks

5xx Power Opcode 133

dasyar316 — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 16:36:01 GMT

It seems like there should be an opcode for bringing the 5xx back to life after you power it down. It is getting to be a pain to go over to the robot and pressing the Clean button LOL. Since the robot does a power down after sitting idle for awhile, it would be nice to have an opcode that starts it back up again. Since I am working with a bluetooth module, and the robot could be in another room, the power up opcode would be nice. I looked through the docs and I did not see anything that would let me do this. I must be going blind.

Thanks

Programing Roomba 560

Bengtsson — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 16:48:01 GMT

Hello

Iam i C# developer and own a Roomba 560. What do I need to buy to control and program my Roomba 560.

What are my options to controll the Roomba. I have heard about a RootTooth. Is it the one I should buy, and can I put this into the roomba without adding size to the roomba.?

Are there any wifi solutions to control it?

I am very eger to start programming my Roomba and I saw there was a C# framework witch is great.

/Anders

Roomba 5xx and Xbee

dasyar316 — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:29:56 GMT

At one of the other web sites, their has been some speculation that the new roombas just might have an Xbee radio component. Somebody has already tried doing a discovery, looking for a bluetooth response, but the roomba did not show up, so I guess the radio signal is not bluetooth.

Since I am not familiar with Xbee, does anybody know of a way to do a discovery to see if in fact the roomba would show up, or does the Xbee work differently than bluetooth, as far as discovering the device. I guess what we need here is a small tuturial as to how Xbee works.

The reason I am asking this question is, I am speculating that the new Create will be based on the new roomba 5xx series, so if it has Xbee already built in, and we can access it, that would make talking to the Create a whole lot simplier. But that would create a new problem, how to add a processor to the unit. But if a second com port is availble than that would sort of solve that problem.

Hey! anyone know where is a good forum to just chat about robots and technology?

evantherobot — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 16:19:42 GMT

I'm new to the whole robotics thing and I love technology and the ever changing world. I'm looking for a place with people that are into chatting about stuff like this. If anyone can help me out it would be appreciated!!1 Thanks everyone!! Evan

Roomba idea

DJ — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:39:20 GMT

Not sure if this is where I should post this, but I had an idea for the Roomba and thought i'd share.:smileyhappy:

Wrestlers have had some outbreaks of MRSA (staph infections) that are really nasty. It would be cool to have a roomba equiped with a UV light that's used in hospitals to kill all the nasty bacterias and molds on the mats. It would seem like a simple enough add on and I'd think there would be a pretty big market for it. Simple enough for someone that isn't me that is..hehe.

The New Model 5XX ROI

vic7767 — Tue, 02 Oct 2007 04:01:28 GMT

The 5XX ROI has been published and is available here:

http://www.irobot.com/filelibrary/iRobot_Roomba_500_Open_Interface_Spec.pdf

New 5XX model SCI datarate has been bumped up from 57600 to 115200

vic7767 — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 04:22:35 GMT

This explains why some of the previous software written for the earlier Roomba versions didn't work with the new 5XX models. Holding down the Clean button for 20 seconds will force the SCI port to drop to 19200. Some of the earlier comm programs are hard coded at 57600 and will not work unless the datarate can be changed.........

iRobot Roomba 570

dasyar316 — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 11:51:37 GMT

I see the new robots have been introduced. Hopefully, on our forum, we can get some technical details. From a general observation, it looks like the front bumber is housing some wall sensors on both sides? But, what I am really interested in is the "Wireless Command Center", is this just a fancier remote or is it something that is accessed via the PC? Can the robot be accessed via SCI, and if it can, is their an improvement in the commands, and sensors that are available? How many sensors are now available? ...

Thanks

BlueSmirf - AT Set Pin function? Keep getting ERROR

m_ahlenius — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 23:42:25 GMT

Hi, has ANYONE been able to successfully issue the "SET PIN" command for a BlueSmirf device? This is supposed to allow you to change the PIN from default to something you want. Am using this to connect to iRobot. The format is ATSP, , Each time I try this from Zterm I get "ERROR" help please! thanks 'mark

problem connecting to roomba via BT

m_ahlenius — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:06:33 GMT

Hi, I built up the BlueSmirf interface for my Roomba. I am using a Mac to connect to the BlueSmirf, and can send AT style commands, and check the status of the BlueSmirf device. But I cannot seem to send and successful commands using Zterm to Roomba. I might not be using the right cmds, assuming you can just put the BlueSmirf in data mode. ATSW20,236,0,0,1 - set up the BlueSmirf data rate speed to 57.6K ATMD - put it in data mode 128 130 132 136 - op codes to start, control, use full mode and start cleaning This doesn't work. Anyone see what I might be doing wrong? thanks

IR Codes, Homebase info and MaxSonar Info

vic7767 — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 21:22:08 GMT

Here is some info I ran across, hope it can help Roomba hackers as well as Create work.

Adding circuitry to Roomba which intercepts new cmds

m_ahlenius — Sat, 11 Aug 2007 15:42:30 GMT

Hi, I am considering adding some circuitry to a Roomba which would have some extra audio capabilities. Since the SCI command set is somewhat "closed" and the commands which I need to have will be of varying command lengths - the only way that I can think of to do this is to build a micro controller which acts to intercept my custom commands (xml formatted), and pass through the SCI commands directly to the Roomba serial port. So the BT module would connect into my microcontroller board, and it would in turn have another output serial port to the Roomba. Is there some easier way of doing this, or perhaps its already been done? thanks! 'mark