Add wifi to an older roomba

[bremby]

I want to share back the (almost) final step (i need now a small box to place the pcb)

thank you to all of you for the support!!!

[wburgers (Willem)]

Which model Roomba is that?
I never knew there were Roomba models with the serial port over on the top left .
(Seen from the top).
My serial port is on the right of the clean button.

Anyway…
Looks good! Well done.
Which voltage regulator did you choose eventually?

[davidecavestro]

I’ve merged both UART support and some black magic from good old johnboiles’ repo to avoid BRC pin issues on Roomba 650 (in order to prevent this model to fall into a deep sleep that can be interrupted only manually pressing the CLEAN button or with an ugly relay).
So far so good: after two weeks no issues.

[bremby]

I don’t know how to check the model, i saw 601 on the bottom label
I used this step down MP1584EN

[bremby]

Hi @davidecavestro, I’m testing the latest version with UART refactor;
I can’t wake up the Roomba any more

this is my EPSHome code:

 init: 'RoombaComponent::instance(D4, id(uart_bus), 10000, true);'
....
uart:
  id: uart_bus
  tx_pin: TX
  rx_pin: RX
  baud_rate: 115200
  
# Enable logging
logger:
  hardware_uart: UART1

Once I wake up the Roomba with physical button and the serial communication is initialized, I have all the telemetry

but when it goes in deep sleep

Do you have any suggestions?

I also would like to understand how to use the buttons. Can you explain to me how the commands are supposed to work? I see the code, but I don’t understand how to use it

I checked the fork by @Real-Time-Kodi

Add wifi to an older roomba

I just wanted to post here that I did a quick and dirty fork of davidecavestro’s repository with a focus on being able to start/stop/dock the vacuum. It’s kind of a hack but it works. There’s a working example config included, some updated circuit diagrams, and a PCB file that may or may not be useful. I’ve been using it for a little over a week with no problems so I thought I’d post it here. This thread has been incredibly helpful in getting my roomba connected to HA

https://github.com/Real-Time-Kodi/ESPHomeRoombaComponent

and after swapping from private to public I’m able to send commands, but I’m not sure that’s the way to go

Thank you for your support
Regards

[davidecavestro]

@bremby

I also would like to understand how to use the buttons.

I use them this way …basically for fun

passing the command name to the service. i.e. the following example is for using the paper-buttons widget (please note I renamed the roomba component to vacuum here so the service name became esphome.vacuum_command)

type: entities
entities:
  - type: custom:paper-buttons-row
    buttons:
      - icon: mdi:chevron-up
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: go_faster
  - type: custom:paper-buttons-row
    buttons:
      - icon: mdi:chevron-left
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: go_left
      - icon: mdi:checkbox-blank-circle-outline
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: halt
        hold_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: drive
      - icon: mdi:chevron-right
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: go_right
  - type: custom:paper-buttons-row
    buttons:
      - icon: mdi:chevron-down
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: go_slower
        hold_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.vacuum_command
          service_data:
            command: halt

[davidecavestro]

@bremby

I can’t wake up the Roomba any more

My Roomba model is 650, please check your.

I’ve experimented a bit and seen that this way - passing true to the 4th param just added - the controller actually prevents the Roomba to fall asleep, so the CLEAN button light is always on, the serial port active and all registers available. I must admit I’ve not tested it yet passing false as I was interested in the logic to prevent the deep sleep.
Probably this is not the best solution, though I’ve noticed no performance nor battery degradation so far (only 2 weeks testing as of now).
The original code comes from johnboiles repo, and for my vacuum it works, provided that the Roomba is awake at ESP boot time or you wake it up manually in order to let the ESP take control and prevent the deep sleep.
I must say most of the time my Roomba is on the dock - so I should test it more exhaustively - but at least the gathered data is consistent and it always reacts to commands.

PS: As of now I’ve put a 2N3906 transistor between the Roomba WRITE pin and the logical level shifter, as per Add wifi to an older roomba - #77 by Ecam315 and https://www.irobotweb.com/~/media/MainSite/PDFs/About/STEM/Create/Create_2_to_5V_Logic.pdf
So far it works fine thought I’m curious to check if I can completely skip the logic level shifter.

[bremby]

Thank you so much @davidecavestro,

I got it

just in case if anyone would like to use it
as far I understood probably, I can remove the wakeup buttons (the first row)

type: vertical-stack
title: roomba-control
cards:
  - type: horizontal-stack
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: wakeup
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:gesture-swipe-up
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: wake_on_dock
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:eject-circle
  - type: horizontal-stack
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: start
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:arrow-right-drop-circle
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: stop
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:stop-circle
  - type: horizontal-stack
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: spot
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:refresh-circle
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: dock
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:home-circle
  - type: horizontal-stack
    cards:
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: locate
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:bell-circle
      - show_name: true
        show_icon: true
        type: button
        tap_action:
          action: call-service
          service: esphome.roomba_control_command
          data:
            command: sleep
          target: {}
        icon: mdi:pause-circle

[bremby]

Copy that. I see the same behavior

When the Roomba is on the dock, the CLEAN button light is always on, and the serial port is active
I don’t see the same once the Roomba IS NOT on the dock, the CLEAN button light is off, and the serial port goes passive (I guess)

I used the same schema

Add wifi to an older roomba

Hi, this is mine (awaiting shipment), I’m using 2n3906 PNP [image]

[davidecavestro]

Thanks for sharing, this is way easier than how I organized buttons before

[bremby]

@davidecavestro , do you think that I can remove the wakeup and wake-on-dock buttons? I think that if the Roomba is in deep sleep, they don’t work at all. correct?

If you want to configure the icon directly in the esp

  - platform: custom
    lambda: |-
      auto r = ${init}
      return {r->voltageSensor, r->currentSensor, r->batteryChargeSensor, r->batteryCapacitySensor, r->batteryPercentSensor, r->batteryTemperatureSensor, r->driveSpeedSensor};

    sensors:
      - name: "${friendly_name} distance"
        unit_of_measurement: "mm"
        icon: mdi:map-marker-distance
        accuracy_decimals: 0

      - name: "${friendly_name} voltage"
        unit_of_measurement: "V"
        icon: mdi:sine-wave
        accuracy_decimals: 2

      - name: "${friendly_name} current"
        unit_of_measurement: "A"
        icon: mdi:lightning-bolt
        accuracy_decimals: 3
      
      - name: "${friendly_name} charge"
        unit_of_measurement: "Ah"
        icon: mdi:battery-charging
        accuracy_decimals: 2
      
      - name: "${friendly_name} capacity"
        unit_of_measurement: "Ah"
        icon: mdi:battery
        accuracy_decimals: 2
      
      - name: "${friendly_name} battery"
        unit_of_measurement: "%"
        state_class: "measurement"
        device_class: battery
        icon: mdi:battery-outline
        accuracy_decimals: 0
      
      - name: "${friendly_name} temperature"
        unit_of_measurement: "°C"
        icon: mdi:thermometer
        accuracy_decimals: 0

text_sensor:
  - platform: custom
    lambda: |-
      auto r = ${init}
      return {r->chargingSensor, r->activitySensor, r->oiModeSensor};
    text_sensors:
        - name: "${friendly_name} charging state"
          icon: mdi:battery-charging-high 
        - name: "${friendly_name} activity"
          icon: mdi:robot-vacuum-variant
        - name: "${friendly_name} OI mode"
          icon: mdi:steering

[bremby]

Hi folks,

Is the measure unit Ah or mAh?

do you know if the value requires “any filter”?, eg:

        filters:
        - median:
            window_size: 7
            send_every: 4
            send_first_at: 3
        - multiply: 0.001

[davidecavestro]

@bremby

do you think that I can remove the wakeup and wake-on-dock buttons? I think that if the Roomba is in deep sleep, they don’t work at all. correct?

I’ve not seen it in deep sleep so far with lazy650Enabled = true, as the brc_wakeup keeps it awake. OTOH I expect that if/when it reaches a deep sleep the only way to wake it up is pressing the physical buttons or with a relay under them, given that I consider deep sleep a machine state which completely turns off the serial port (including the BRC pin).

[bremby]

where I should set it?
here

or here

[davidecavestro]

Yes, you already set it passing true as last costructor arg

But maybe there’s something wrong… you could also temporarily add some log here and there to check what’s going on, or even simply the value i.e. if (lazy650Enabled) {ESP_LOGI("roomba", "lazy650Enabled is true");} or unconditionally simply passing the value as variable arg.

[k8gg]

@ssjmilos

Also i added the buttons for the commands. If anyone want’s i can do a noob tutorial step by step

Please do share! I am interested in such tutorial.

[bremby]

@k8gg, copy and paste in a new tab in Lovelace, I don’t know what can be easiest then that

Add wifi to an older roomba

Thank you so much @davidecavestro, I got it [image] just in case if anyone would like to use it as far I understood probably, I can remove the wakeup buttons (the first row) type: vertical-stack title: roomba-control cards: - type: horizontal-stack cards: - show_name: true show_icon: true type: button tap_action: action: call-service service: esphome.roomba_control_command data: command: wakeup …

[davidecavestro]

@bremby

Is the measure unit Ah or mAh?

Specs talk about mA for current and mAh for charge/capacity, so raw values are translated to A/Ah. Also voltage is converted from mV to V.

[davidecavestro]

@bremby

do you know if the value requires “any filter”?

Experimenting with filters is a good idea… removing translations from component code and leaving raw values flow, eventually manipulated at the filters stage, so that we can easily remove noise.

[bremby]

Hi,

as soon I add this sensor

- name: "${friendly_name} drive speed"
        unit_of_measurement: "mm/s"
        icon: mdi:speedometer
        accuracy_decimals: 0

I lose the connection with the ESP, any idea?