Roomba Mod

Roomba detects "cliffs" like stairs by using four optical sensors, each equipped with a light emitting diode and a receiving diode housed in a clear plastic chamber with a lens that looks down in front of the machine. As long as the receiver can see light from the emitter at high enough intensity, things are fine. If, however, it comes to a cliff, such as a flight of stairs, the light in the chamber is suddenly far less intense, so the receiving diode gets less signal, and detects a cliff. The machine then turns away and continues on. Here are two of the sensors sitting in one of the four lens chambers.



The system works well most of the time, but my new Navajo carpet has some black design areas on it. The machine reads this black as a cliff, but when it tries to turn away, it hits more black, which causes it to stall and beg for help ("Move Roomba to a new location!").

Lots of folks have encountered this problem, and there are various ways to "blind" the machine to cliff edges by fooling these sensors using aluminum foil, paper, etc. I tried them and none of them worked, so I decided to open it up. There were a few decent videos of similar machines, so I was able to figure it out. Here is the sensor array, which includes the cliff sensors and six additional proximity sensors.



The fix is to disassemble the light chambers, pull out the transmit and receiver diodes, and then attach them to each other so that the receiver sees the transmitter full on all the time. I used shrink wrap tubing to encase the diodes. Forgot to get a pic, but it's pretty simple--place them next to each other, stick a piece of shrink wrap over both diodes, and entomb them in it.

Worked like a charm. Roomba glides right over the carpet. To prevent him from falling down the stairs, I put the Roomba-supplied electronic fence gadget across the top.

Oh well, got my photos mixed up.

[gtc]

Came here expecting to see animals riding on Roombas.

[Jeff Higgins]

I just let my wife vacuum. Every now and them I'm really nice to her, and buy her a new one for Christmas, or her birthday, or something. That's just the kind of guy I am...

And no, she does not read this forum...

[Jim Bremner]

I need a mod on my parents Roomba. It's lost in their house! Their house is neat but still lost. I need a GPS or rfi chip in it.

Its so lost they bought a second one so when they find it they can have an upstairs and down stairs Roomba.

First world problems!

Our dogs shed half their own body weight daily. Tumbleweeds across the harwoods. Roomba fires up every morning at 7:30, about the time I fire up. He runs for almost two hours. Place is spotless, missus is happy. Happy wife, happy life.

Yes.

I love Roomba.

I hope this isn't PARF. New sheriff.

[dan79brooklyn]

Does the roomba get confused by bright rays of sun, thinking it’s a cliff?
My cheap knockoff robovac does. I can’t run it when it’s sunny.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by madcorgi

...

I love Roomba.

I hope this isn't PARF. New sheriff.

NARF....Neato And Roomba Forum

....let them duke it out.....a Roomba Rumble!

I find that I want to tweek the AI in mine...seriously, but they are neat

[ckelly78z]

We have a Roomba, but found that it would get clogged with dog hair, and refuse to pick up other dirt until I spent 1/2 hour with a pair of needle nose pliers, and a pick cleaning it.

[mepstein]

Originally Posted by ckelly78z

We have a Roomba, but found that it would get clogged with dog hair, and refuse to pick up other dirt until I spent 1/2 hour with a pair of needle nose pliers, and a pick cleaning it.

Same here. I had a Roomba with the 1/2 cup size dust bin. I spent more time cleaning it than it spent on the floors. The dog fur twisted around the rollers and needed constant care.
I want a robot vacuum the same size as a shop vac. 5 gallon dust bin. Automotive size battery.

[stevej37]

Nice work on the mod! No stairs where mine cleans.
My Roomba 560 is 10 years old and it works better now than when new.
I've had to replace one drive wheel when the plasic broke. (not sure how that happened)
I also upgraded, thru their website, to the Aerovac dust bin, enhanced cleaning head, and longer life battery.
I wasn't getting any more than an hour out of the old battery. New one goes 2-2.5 hours each cleaning.

[URY914]

No one has made a joke about their tires being good but not great and post that picture of the car off the side of the road and the guy lighting the cig?

[Deschodt]

I just saw a hilarious video of a roomba modded to shout obscenities when it hit something, I thought this was where this thread was going...

Originally Posted by Deschodt

I just saw a hilarious video of a roomba modded to shout obscenities when it hit something, I thought this was where this thread was going...

Well, now I'm inspired.

We run it every day on the upper floor of our house, which is 1000 sq ft, mostly hardwood. Welsh Corgis shed roughly their own body weight each day, and pre--Roomba the front room had tumbleweeds blowing across it after a few days. A1.5 hour jaunt in the morning fills Roomba up but he does just fine. I empty him every use.

Today's haul.



For whatever reason, Corgi hair does not foul the brushes much. Once a week or so I clean them.

[Jeff Higgins]

Tumbleweeds- I love it. Great imagery. I will, however, see your two Welsh Corgis and raise you one 98 pound Golden Retriever. He turns dog food into hair at the most astonishing rate. My wife and I "swiffer" our hardwood floors on an average of twice a day in an effort to keep up. We put the big balls of fur out in the backyard, so the neighborhood birds and squirrels can grab it for their nests. We are blessed with a resident pair of Bald Eagles - I swear their entire nest is made out of Ed's hair...

Originally Posted by Jeff Higgins

Tumbleweeds- I love it. Great imagery. I will, however, see your two Welsh Corgis and raise you one 98 pound Golden Retriever. He turns dog food into hair at the most astonishing rate. My wife and I "swiffer" our hardwood floors on an average of twice a day in an effort to keep up. We put the big balls of fur out in the backyard, so the neighborhood birds and squirrels can grab it for their nests. We are blessed with a resident pair of Bald Eagles - I swear their entire nest is made out of Ed's hair...

I can only imagine. I've been really happy with Roomba for that task.

[Deschodt]

Our Golden retriever sheds twice the above daily... Without a Neato, I dare say we would not have a dog - all that hair also has a bit of a funk.
Paired with the Blu charcoal activated air filter, you can't tell he's shedding enough hair to make an entire fake dog daily, some goldens really smell (yes we wash him) so the robot is a godsend. (we adopted him as a rescue older dog, had no idea some goldens smelled so much, but he's super sweet).

[Jeff Higgins]

Maybe we should consider one. We would have to keep Ed outside while it runs, though. I'm sure he would be unable to resist chasing it and "playing" with it. He's gotten very adept at catching the neighborhood rabbits - he would probably see this as no more than the indoor version.

The good folks at Petco have suggested that we offer him up as some sort of a product development specialist. We have returned innumerable "indestructible" pet toys in the two short years Ed has been "testing" them. He merely sees it as a challenge. I think our all-time record was a return less than 45 minutes after the time stamp on the receipt. "What on earth did this??" "Ed." "What on earth is 'Ed'"?? "He's out in the car. Wanna meet him?"

So, yeah, an Ed vs. Roomba cage match probably wouldn't last very long...

[Deschodt]

Can't speak for yours but ours ignores the robot blissfully, and just gets out of its way when it comes close. VAcuum robots are kinda loud so he doesn't even want to play with it.