Roomba Status (UPDATE V1.4)

[rainrider]

Thanks, Vic.
I'll have to try ProComm. Was thinking about trying a Li-Ion pack, but think I better "discover" more before doing that. The present battery last about 1 hour 17 minutes or so, so it's not like I have to have one right away.
Rain

[mfortuna]

The voltage the battery peaks at will be different battery to battery.

I have used realterm with great success.

[rainrider]

Thanks for the realterm suggestion and battery info.
Figured I'd post those numbers to see if anybody saw anything unusual. Seems they're about normal, from what I can tell. I'm considering getting the Bluetooth setup for monitoring while it's moving.
Rain

[rainrider]

Mike: "I have used realterm with great success."

Downloaded RealTerm - nice program. I've been able to get a sequence output of battery info packets 22 thru 26 (among other control commands executed successfully), but have not yet figured out how to format the log output so it is readable.
But, I'll get there. Thinking I need something besides Wordpad to open the log file, but would like to output in ASCII TXT if possible. Display as "int16" looks like it comes closest to making sense.
Thanks again for the suggestion.
Rain

[mfortuna]

Glad you liked realterm. If you turn the roomba off and have it plugged into a charger it will start printing the 1 second charging data. You can then capture the data into a file. I haven't tried capturing into a file but I assume .txt is supported.

[millennio]

i have roomba 580 and i want use roomba status software.
what do i do? i need rootooth?
pls send me some information


thanks

[vic7767]

The latest info from IRobot is that nothing can be installed into the SCI port of the 5XX models Roomba that is not approved by IRobot. The only device approved without losing the warranty is the IRobot supplied OSMO device. Nothing else can be connected. Of course once the warranty is expired then you can connect whatever you want to the port like a Create cable from the IRobot site or a Rootooth if you can find one.

[SE_machine]

You need Rootooth for wireless connectivity. There is an SCI cable that you can purchase, but that leaves your roomba tethered to the computer. If you plan on using the Rootooth, your computer must have a Bluetooth radio attached to it. If you need one, they can be found at roombaexchange.com . The Rootooth device attaches to the Roomba via the SCI port. On the 500 series, this port can be found underneath the removable faceplate. Rootooth voids iRobot's factory warranty? How would they know if you connected one or not? Wouldn't a system reset clear the robot's SCI memory?

[millennio]

where i can buy rootooth?

so... the roomba 580 have wireless connection and i can use it without rootooth?

[Fraggboy]

where i can buy rootooth?

so... the roomba 580 have wireless connection and i can use it without rootooth?

You can purchase the Rootooth from Pro Tech Robotics (Currently Out of Stock). There are a few others you may find if you Google for it.

The 5xx Roomba's are equipped with a wireless connection, but that is only for communication between the Virtual Wall Lighthouses and Roomba.

[ichris]

The Bluetooth software on my PC assigned the SPP to COM 40. When I try to connect to port 40, Roomba Status gives me a "Error opening Comport !!! 8002 invalid port number" error. I've confirmed via Realterm that COM 40 is connected to the Roomba. My Bluetooth software won't let me change the COM port number. Any suggestions?

[mfortuna]

Did you try opening the serial port in device manager? Open the serial port, go to settings, then advanced settings. You should be able to change the com port number.

[ichris]

Did you try opening the serial port in device manager?

That's a good idea, I didn't think of that. Unfortunately, the BT serial ports don't have a "Settings" tab like a COM port.

[vic7767]

You can change the COM port on your BT by going to System, Device Manager, Ports COM and LPT, Standard Serial over Bluetooth link (COMXX). Highlight the Standard Serial over Bluetooth link, right click the mouse, select Properties, Select the Port Settings tab, then select the advanced tab. The next screen that is brought up will contain the current port number assigned as well as a Com Port Number select arrow. When that is clicked it will display all the Com ports. That is where you can find a lower number port that is not used by another application.

[mfortuna]

Are you sure you have no port settings tab? If not, try uninstalling the device and re-install with the standard microsoft SPP driver.

[ichris]

Thanks for your help. No COM port settings tab:

I'm using the Toshiba BT driver that came with my BT USB stick because the Windows Vista driver did not work reliably. The Vista driver assigned ports 5 & 6.

After switching drivers, my luck gets worse - now neither driver, the Toshiba BT or the standard Windows Vista BT, can find the Rootooth. At one time, I was able to talk to the Rootooth modem and set it to 57600 baud. Now I can't get a BT connection. I got my Firefly Rootooth from Sparkfun a few days ago.

Question: should the Rootooth get warm? I wouldn't think a BT device would use much power.

[mfortuna]

Warm is probably OK. It is taking power from the roomba which means the voltage regulator has to drop 14V to 5V.

I would try un-installing all the BT serial ports and starting over. Also change the view to show hidden devices. Get rid of any BT serial ports that are hidden.

I use XP so I can't try this out on my system.

[ichris]

I was finally able to get a BT connection to the Rootooth (RT) on COM 4 using Windows Vista BT drivers. I factory reset the RT (SD,1) and set the baud rate to 57600 (SU,57). The RT "D" command shows the baudrate at 57,600. But I got no data out of the Roomba via RealTerm, Roomba Status, or SCITester. The programs connect to the COM port, but don't read any Roomba data and commands are ignored.

When I put the RT on my Scooba, I was seeing garbage via Realterm, so I figured wrong baud rate. I tried every baud rate there was, but none worked.

So I used an alternative RT speed command "U,57.6,N" and that got the communications working. I was happy to see the battery charging status messages Vic talked about.

I was going to try and figure out why the RT didn't change the baud rate using the SU command, and why it doesn't remember the changed baud rate between connections. But now I can't get a BT connection to the RT anymore, so it's going back to Sparkfun.

Were previous RT modems "AT" command based? All the docs I've read refer to the AT command set for programming the RT. My Rootooth does not respond to AT-style commands and is based on Roving Network's Firefly.

What's the difference between Roomba Status "serial cable" and "Rootooth" modes?

Thanks for everyone help and suggestions.

[vic7767]

For your Scooba the COM parameters are 57600, N, 8, 1. If you plug your power supply into the Scooba you should see ASCII characters once per second with charging data output via the SCI port.

The same is true for the 4th gen Roombas. The 5XX models have a faster baud rate of 115200, N, 8, 1.

[ichris]

The 5XX models have a faster baud rate of 115200, N, 8, 1.

Thanks, I didn't know that. Thought everything was 57.6.