My Roombas seem to last about 5 years (then they get transformed into experimental robot platforms).
But since it's getting harder to find ones that don't connect to the network, I think I may just start actually repairing the one that's currently used as a vacuum when it breaks, so I can continue to have a good robotic vacuum.
Not completely. If it's one that does mapping, that's all stored on the cloud.
You can prevent some of the telemetry with a pi hole, but be aware that every run will end with a notification of "communication error" when the Roomba tries to report on you
iRobot still sells all the parts for their old, non-cloud vacuums if you don't mind buying used and doing DIY parts swaps. They're very repair friendly: No special tools required and easy to take apart.
I run a ~5 year old Roomba, that I just never connected to anything. I control it via the physical buttons and it works just fine. Is that not an option anymore on newer models?
The one that behaves really poorly has been through a series of names from "Ceiling" (because I thought it'd be funny to see a notification telling me that Ceiling is stuck and ended its job), to Hessalam ("Last Chance" from wheel of time) and is currently named "Chaos Monkey". I hate that damn thing.
Years ago, my daughter named our Roomba "Puck" because it looks like a giant hockey puck. I liked the double-meaning of it also being the name of the European trickster-fairy (aka "Robin Goodfellow") and so have stuck with it.
I call mine Cletus, because it ain't the smartest tool in the shed. At least once every run I have to kick it out from under it's nemesis...my living room chair. Where it has been bumping into the legs for 20m.
Our random mapping one was such a frustrating piece of garbage it was just thrown into the closet after a few weeks. My Wyze lidar one is amazing - you can even just yank it off the floor, set it somewhere else, and when you resume it’ll go right back to where it left off and continue.
I know it uploads the generated map to the cloud, but I don’t really care because it keeps my upstairs clean without me lifting a finger.
I wrote this story, which originated entirely from a single picture on brr [1], an Antarctica blog that has wonderful, detailed descriptions about how the South Pole station functions.
The Roomba app already does this (supposedly. it's part of the initialization. I haven't used it though. Still trying to get our Roomba to not run out of battery before going back to the home base then needing a factory reset to connect to the wifi again. They have some kinks)
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[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 85.6 ms ] threadYou were taken from us too early.
Bye-bye, Roomba Ernie.
You’re 5,000 candles in the wind.
But since it's getting harder to find ones that don't connect to the network, I think I may just start actually repairing the one that's currently used as a vacuum when it breaks, so I can continue to have a good robotic vacuum.
It's a open source application that (after rooting the vacuum) replaces the cloud with a self hosted control webUI.
I am a big fan.
Can I run a Roomba whilst preventing it calling home?
Is there a setting for that or would I have to configure firewall rules?
You can prevent some of the telemetry with a pi hole, but be aware that every run will end with a notification of "communication error" when the Roomba tries to report on you
It lets you run them without any cloud connectivity or forced updates.
Named after the old labrador of one of my previous neighbours.
The one that behaves really poorly has been through a series of names from "Ceiling" (because I thought it'd be funny to see a notification telling me that Ceiling is stuck and ended its job), to Hessalam ("Last Chance" from wheel of time) and is currently named "Chaos Monkey". I hate that damn thing.
I was completely surprised to see the robot vacuum get more affection from my kids than all their toys, and even our cat.
Our random mapping one was such a frustrating piece of garbage it was just thrown into the closet after a few weeks. My Wyze lidar one is amazing - you can even just yank it off the floor, set it somewhere else, and when you resume it’ll go right back to where it left off and continue.
I know it uploads the generated map to the cloud, but I don’t really care because it keeps my upstairs clean without me lifting a finger.
Ike-a-roomba!
[1] for instance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERPRf7SsfvY
He's always been called "James" (as if he's our butler)
[1]: https://brr.fyi/
Clean when people are away and pets when they are home.