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stevenz

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#130886 1-Oct-2013 18:00
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About 3 years back I bought one of the Roomba 530's and it's still going strong (albeit with a new battery and upgraded vacuum bin). Apparently there was a firmware update put out a couple of years back which improves the cleaning logic, the problem is that it involves using a proprietary dongle to do the job.

Would anyone happen to know of anyone in NZ that may have this device? It's a one-off usage so not much point buying one unless it'd be used on a number of units. I got my Roomba off Amazon, as far as I'm aware there's no Australasian agents anywhere (Suzanne Paul's outfit doesn't count).

Any ideas? Far from essential, might be nice though.





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Niel
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  #905981 1-Oct-2013 20:50
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Googling "roomba programming cable" comes up with a number of good hits. It is just TTL level RS232 (or UART level). No need to build the hardware, for a few years now you get USB to UART cables from FTDI (chip manufacturer) and just solder on a mini DIN connector. Retail you are looking at about $50, trade is maybe half that. Or if you PC has an RS232 port then you can get away with just a level converter which is less than $10.

Do you have access to their software, or keen to explore the hacking web sites?




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stevenz

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  #906151 2-Oct-2013 09:03
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If it's a "standard" cable then we may have something laying around the office if I'm lucky.

I didn't realise software was also needed, I had the impression it was an all-in-one dongle that just did the job.




Niel
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  #907334 3-Oct-2013 18:00
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It is TTL level (0V and 5V) instead of RS232 level (~-10V and ~+10V, and reverse polarity). Can't connect RS232 directly, need a TTL level converter, but any electronics hobbyist should be able to help.




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