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I've been trying to communicate different models of Roomba vacuum robots, 9xx and 6xx series, with a raspberry using the sci port of the roomba with no success. The sequence of steps have been:

  • connect pins 3 (rxd), 4 (txd), and 6 (ground) of the roomba port (5v) with a sparkfun logic level converter.

  • connect the output (3.3v) from the logic level converter to the gpio of the raspberry pi. Roomba Rxd to rpi txd, roomba txd to pi rxd, ground to ground.

  • connect rpi 5v to logic level converter HV and at the same time LV to gpio pin 1 (3.3v) for feeding high and low voltage required by the logic level converter.

  • disable serial console of the rpi

  • enable serial port hardware of the rpi

  • install and then open minicom in the rpi using this command

    minicom -b 115200 -o -D /dev/serial0

  • place the roomba in the charging dock

I would now expect to read information about the charging process of the roomba in the minicom console but that's not happening. Anyone knows if any of those steps is wrong? My goals are to been able to read robots bump sensors in first place and then control movements of the robot from a pc using the rpi in between. Thanks for any help.

rojele
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1 Answers1

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Check this webseite. it's explaining exactly how to connect the roomba to the raspberry using an logic level converter https://domoticproject.com/roomberry-surveillance-robot-roomba-raspberry-pi-zero-w-camera/

Jaja_b
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  • Thanks for the answer. I followed exactly the instructions in this link you share before starting the thread here in stack overflow, but the roomba used there seems to be a Create model. That's the reason I started this post asking if its possible to hack a roomba other than a Create one. – rojele Jul 30 '22 at 17:51
  • Yes, it should work with any Roomba with Open Interface wich is standard on every model since 2005. – Jaja_b Jul 31 '22 at 18:08
  • i think you should remove the 5V and 3.3V power connections. it may be possbible that you shorted the gpio of the raspberry pi. do you have any posibility to test the gpio? – Jaja_b Jul 31 '22 at 18:18
  • Thanks for the inputs, @Cosmin. I tested the gpio sending simple characters from the keyboard and receiving them afterwards via minicom, wiring TXD and RXD, and it worked fine, but without any level logic converter in between. Will try removing the 5v. and 3.3v power connections, but I understood that were needed for the logic level converter to work. – rojele Aug 01 '22 at 07:46
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