foscam on a 1st gen Roomba and mirrors for direction

[harry_s24]

I am trying to use an old 1st Gen Roomba to carry a foscam IP camera.

Since 1st Gen Roomba's do not have the the serial interface, I was planning on hooking up a mirror to the top front of the foscam at 45 degree angle so that it reflects some of the the IR light from the foscam IR LED bulbs onto the Roomba's IR sensor (which normally is used to sense the virtual walls). I could then script the foscam to selectively turn on and off its IR LEDs such that they will create a narrow IR path for the Roomba to move in a tight line instead of the wider circular motion thereby providing directional movement to the 1st Gen Roomba without really hacking into its guts.

I would also need to wire up a push button switch to control turning the Roomba on and off just under the foscam so that when the foscam nods "yes" it will turn on/off the roomba.

At this time this is just an idea and I wanted to get some feedback on whether this has been tried at all. If it works, it could work with any roomba I guess since they all use the same type of IR sensor.

Thanks in advance
harry

[vic7767]

I have not seen this application attempted on the Roomba. Let us know how it goes and post some pics.

[mfortuna]

I don't know if you will get the level of control you want, even if you can create the VW beam. It is not a steady beam but is modulated. Yoy may have better luck creating IR commands to drive the roomba, I think that is a feature the first gen supports.

[Gordon]

Harry, I will present what I intend to be helpful comments relative to your project. My 1st comment may not seem that way.

I am trying to use an old 1st Gen Roomba to carry a foscam IP camera.

R1 Roombas are just terrible machines for getting inside and modifying anything. I suggest that you bin the one you have, and buy a USED R2 (4XXX series) Roomba to fool around with. You will ultimately wish to have SCI access into Roomba's control system.

Since 1st Gen Roomba's do not have the the serial interface, I was planning on hooking up a mirror to the top front of the foscam at 45 degree angle so that it reflects some of the the IR light from the foscam IR LED bulbs onto the Roomba's IR sensor (which normally is used to sense the virtual walls). I could then script the foscam to selectively turn on and off its IR LEDs such that they will create a narrow IR path for the Roomba to move in a tight ...

I am certain that you will not be able to make any Roomba behave the way you wish.

The reason is: When Roomba encounters a VW-beam, the robot knows not where the beam source is! All it 'knows' is it must do large angle rotations in an effort to get its omnidirectional RCON (room-control) sensor out of that IR field.

I would also need to wire up a push button switch to control turning the Roomba on and off just under the foscam so that when the foscam nods "yes" it will turn on/off the roomba.

One of the easiest ways to do that is to wire your mechanical switch in series with any 'wheel-drop switch'. When one of those switches go OPEN, all motors become de-powered.

... any roomba I guess since they all use the same type of IR sensor. ...

Read this post to learn about Roomba's IRM: viewtopic.php?p=68843#p68843
Scan this thread to learn about DIY VWU attempts: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1178
(watch for member JoeCreate's post on this matter. His approach is one you might like.)

I hope those suggestions get you on track.

[harry_s24]

Thanks all for the quick responses.
I will try it out and post back on how it turned out.

I do understand that the best way to do things is to get a used later model Roomba. However the challenge is even bigger with the older roomba and the immediate reason for doing this setup is that I want to use components that I already have than to buy other stuff. Of course if this fails, then I will be looking at going the route of the 4xxx or 5xxxx from ebay.

Just for perspective this is the big picture plan:
I plan to use the the Roomba+Foscam device to monitor my home over the internet when I am away and there is no one at home - not just for intruders, but for the state of appliances, visible leaks etc.
I plan to use this solar powered rechargeable battery pack for the foscam ( http://www.gomadic.com/foscam-fi8908w-s ... ry-charger.

The default "resting" place for the contraption will be next to a window where there is plenty of sunlight most of the day. So this will keep the foscam charged and always-on. (of course provided its not a rainy day - and even if it had a dark day the next good sunlight day should bring it back).

Once every 2-3 days, when I login remotely, I plan to use the foscam to turn on the roomba and take it around for a spin of the home to ensure everything is on order. It will then be driven back to its resting place for charging.

Since the roomba is not going to powered on for long periods of time and the always-on foscam does not take power from the roomba's battery, I am hoping that I can keep the roomba battery going for a few weeks that I will be away.

Based on the information from Gordon, it appears that the Virtual Wall sensor on the Roomba requires a specific type of IR signal and it may not read the IR signal that the foscam puts out....buts thats ok, I have a good working virtual wall itself (that came with the Roomba) which I can place on top of the Roomba pointing at a slight downward angle and maybe powered from the Roomba itself. Then the beam from the VW could be blocked selectively and delicately by the foscam's circular motion (or reflected from a mirror attached on the foscam) according to how the Roomba should move - not easy setup, but I think doable. Agreed that it is not going to go in a straight line, but even if it does a few semi-circles to go from room A to room B, that would be sufficient.

[mfortuna]

It sounds like you are trying to do something similar to what I did:

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=10709

I rely on a host computer with bluetooth for control, if you could use foscom to send remote control commands to the roomba then you wouldn't need bluetooth.