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iRobot Releases Roomba Serial Port Interface |
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Written by William Cox
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Friday, 16 December 2005 |
Well, it's about time! iRobot has finally released instructions for interfacing to the serial port of your Roomba (pdf)! All Roomba's made after October 2005 have the electronics and software for controlling the robot via serial port already installed. Owners that purchased a 41xx and 42xx series Roomba prior to October 2005 will be able to purchase the necessary electronics via iRobot's page, starting Jan 1, 2006.
To upgrade a Roomba manufactured before October
24th, 2005 you will need to purchase a Roomba Osmo //hacker. The Osmo
//hacker will be available directly from this page on January 1st,
2006. There are two Osmo //hacker models, one is blue and one is smoke
colored. You must read your Roomba serial number to determine which
Osmo to purchase.
Also of note is that using the serial interface (SCI) isn't covered by support and any modifications to the robot will void the warranty.
Roomba SCI is a serial protocol that allows users to control a
Roomba through its external serial port (Mini-DIN connector).
The SCI includes commands to control all of Roomba’s actuators
(motors, LEDs, and speaker) and also to request sensor data
from all of Roomba’s sensors. Using the SCI, users can add
functionality to the normal Roomba behavior or they can create
completely new operating instructions for Roomba.
Finally, a company that's embracing hacking!
The robot has three running modes, Passive, Safe and Full mode. When in Passive mode you can force the robot to find the docking station, execute virtual button pushes and read sensor data.
To actually control the robot you will then need to enter Safe mode where you will have full control of the robot, except you can't circumvent the safety features like cliff and wheel drop detection.
In Full mode, you have complete unettered control of the robot.
Also of note is the Robot's drive command,
The command takes four data bytes, which are interpreted as two 16 bit signed values using twos-complement. The first two bytes specify the average velocity of the drive wheels in millimeters per second (mm/s), with the high byte sent first. The next two bytes specify the radius, in millimeters, at which Roomba should turn. The longer radii make Roomba drive straighter; shorter radii make it turn more.
You can also individually control both of the robot's cleaning brushes and vacuum via the Motors command. The robot will send back one of 20 different sensor values on command, among these are the status of the dirt bin and the estimated charge capacity in the battery.
I can't wait to see what folks come up with!
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