Comments on: RoombaComm

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:27:11 +0000

Thanks. Where can I download a copy of it where I download it and double click it and use it? (Mac osx)

I don’t know anything about Java. (Besides it being a Coffee)

By: todbot

todbot — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 02:22:07 +0000

Yes it does. Check out my review of the Create:
http://hackingroomba.com/2007/05/17/irobot-create-robot-review/

By: Ben

Ben — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 00:43:11 +0000

Does it work with the iRobot Create?

By: Richard

Richard — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:35:21 +0000

I don’t know if this question is out-of-bounds or not, but I would like to import roombacomm as a whole project into eclipse. I just made a first attempt at it without actually knowing what to expect.

Will the import wizard successfully get the whole project under control this way?

I’m using a very recently installed/downloaded eclipse
(Build id: 20090920-1017)

Thanks again.

By: todbot

todbot — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 02:27:13 +0000

roombacomm.dock();

By: Long N

Long N — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:59:17 +0000

Hi todbot,
Thanks for quick reply. I’m sorry to bother you again for what actual command (i.e. roombacomm.spinleft) that I can use to send the opcode 143. A bit of syntax would be helpful. I’m using Processing to control the Roomba 400 series as well as the Create.

Thanks very much

By: todbot

todbot — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 22:37:03 +0000

Hi Long,
In a sense. You can send the “Force-seeking Dock command (opcode 143) to the Roomba using RoombaComm, and that will trigger the Roomba to go into searching for its charging station. From the Roomba Open Interface spec:

“Force-Seeking-Dock Command opcode: 143 Number of data bytes: 0
Turns on force-seeking-dock mode, which causes the robot
to immediately attempt to dock during its cleaning cycle if it encounters the docking beams from the Home Base. (Note, however, that if the robot was not active in a clean, spot or max cycle it will not attempt to execute the docking.) Normally the robot attempts to dock only if the cleaning cycle has completed or the battery is nearing depletion. This command can be sent anytime, but the mode will be cancelled if the robot turns off, begins charging, or is commanded into ROI safe or full modes. ”

By: Long N

Long N — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:30:26 +0000

Hi, Is there a way to drive the Roomba back to the Home Base with roombacomm? I couldn’t find a command to do that in the library.
Would you give some advice. Thanks so much.

By: Richard

Richard — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 11:48:33 +0000

Well, I really am dumb sometimes…
I had the roomba connected to the wrong computer. (It’s not as bad as it sounds.)

The java was recently updated too (1.6.0_16) :)

Thanks, sorry I took this to be a problem with the code.
Everything works fine.

By: todbot

todbot — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 04:24:48 +0000

I looked into where in the code the error is coming from, and it looks like it’s because RXTX isn’t finding any serial ports on your system. This is a bug. It should fail gracefully if a system has no COM ports. (granted, this is a really rare case) What kind of computer are you running this on and what kind of Roomba interface are you using?