?DIY Arduino Project- Roomba Virtual Wall ?

21 Comments

1. 

   Great project, but the video is way too long. Could have been cut down to 2,5 min with a new voice over.

2. 

   Do I need to download anything to the arduino? I bought your kit and solder everything as describe but doesn't seem to be working.

3. 

   SOLUTION FOR ROOMBA 675. Thanks the information in this chat I was able to figure out why my Roomba 675 didn't work with the original Instructions from MKme Lab. I am using Arduino One, which is not different than Nano for this application.
   1) Resistor must be properly sized: The IR led has an operational voltage and amperage range that it is necessary to meet to ensure proper performance. Based on my IR led data sheet, the operational forward voltage range is 1.2v – 1.3v @ 100 ma. If the voltage source (arduino board) is 5v, you would need to add a resistance = (5v – 1.2v)/0.1A) = 38 ohm. However, I used 50 ohm. resistor to protect the IR led. If the resistor is too high (80 ohm) , the IR led won't glow. If the resistor is lower than 38 ohm. the IR led will burn out.
   2) Arduino code: I used the same code suggested by Mkme Lab with the following changes: irsend.mark(500) instead of irsend.mark(1000) and irsend.space(7500) instead of irsend.space(1000)

   The virtual wall for my Roomba 675 is working great! Thanks MKme Lab for posting this youtube video.

4. 

   Anyone with the I Series, use 500 for mark and 7500 for space. Lots of testing paid off!

5. 

   Looking at the code it looks like it repeatably turns the led on for 1 second then off for 1 second. Is that it?

6. 

   can i use a arduino micro in place of nano

7. 

   Does it use wall mode or halo mode? Or can you switch between the two?

8. 

   Thanks for this! really usefull 🙂

   Based on your clear instruction in this instruction video and on your GitHub I made it work on a ESP-32.
   https://github.com/PatrickSt1991/Roomba-VirtualWall-ESP32

9. 

   You solved a big problem that I was having, for not being able to acquire the virtual wall. In addition, the cost was ten times lower (U$ 400 to U$ 40) for five virtual walls. Thank you very much for publishing this video and making the libraries available. Luiz Antonio, from Brazil.

10. 

    I recently got a Roomba i3 and made one of these virt walls but the roomba ignores it. I even tried changing the resistor to make the IR led brighter and also dimmer. Loaded the IRremote library again and messed with the ms on/off but no luck. Any suggestions?

11. 

    Excellent thanks! I'm moving to a bigger apartment and wanted to do just this to prevent it from going to a certain room. I'm thinking of adding a switch to the box so if I have a messy (things on the floor) room I can click this thing on and when I have cleared the room then I turn this off. And 2.0 would adding them to home automation system so it could be done remotely.

12. 

    I know this isn't really a support section however is anyone aware if this will work with the a new Roomba i3? I made this circuit, checked with my cell phone & it's outputting IR light but the roomba just ignores it..

    Update: Broke out the scope – verified 38khz carrier & 1ms on/1ms off

13. 

    I'd add a blinder on the front to direct the light straight out across the door threshold so that the Roomba can get closer, but still not cross the line.

14. 

    can this circuit be use on other robot vacuum cleaner, please advise thanks

15. 

    I built this but no luck, my Roomba just plows through it 🙁

    I was going to convert it to an ATtiny85 then I tried with a UNO and no luck.

    Any ideas?

16. 

    Been searching for this information all over internet, thanks!

17. 

    Hi Mr MKme, I tried the code you posted in the Arduino IDE software and do the verify function and it didn’t work ! . This make me go to Arduino programming to learn more about this, my question is, this code really is the one or there is another that you keep in secret ?

18. 

    I tried the “DIY Arduino Project- Roomba Virtual Wall” project with a model 671 Roomba dual mode without success. The suggested parts were ordered from Amazon and wired on a project board. After powering up the circuit, the Arduino NANO was loaded with the suggested software without any problems. The circuit seemed to be working as verified by looking at the IR LED through my cell phone camera and observing the violet color being emitted by the LED. I positioned the project board with the LED pointing at the same level as the roomba at the entrance of an adjacent room. The roomba passed the led without even slowing down. With what Roomba models does this project work? Is there any difference between models as to frequency of operation or pulse width? Is there anything else I can try while I’m at the bread board stage? Any information would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks ……;. RMPPOD

19. 

    Thanks a lot for the video! I have a question: Can I use normal 3x AAA batteries? How long it will survive with this code running?

20. 

    The originals, although in a nice case, are way overpriced. Thanks for sharing and saving me an exorbitant amount of cash on virtual walls!

21. 

    This is great. Thanks a lot. How are you powering the Arduíno? If I use batteries, any ideia of how long they would last?