vesto1d ago

ok it took ordering a custom PCB, a bunch of soldering, and some fastboot CLI chops but I appear to have a fully jailbroken robovac! my floors can be regularly cleaned without the peeping eyes of some random Chinese IoT manufacturer and its annoying app that keeps sending me advertisements via push notifications.

much thanks to the somewhat unhinged developer of https://valetudo.cloud/ for building this + having a long rant on the breakout PCB's repository[0] about how you should not just buy the board and instead go to your local makerspace to learn how to solder with people.

[^0]: https://github.com/Hypfer/valetudo-dreameadapter/tree/master?tab=readme-ov-file#why-cant-i-order-these-and-use-assembly-services-from-eg-jlcpcb

Show threadvesto1d ago
also psa if you ever find yourself going down this route: check ebay for used/refurbrished robovacs. I think there is arbitrage because everyone thinks that a secondhand vac will be gross; I got mine for like 50% off msrp and it's the same as new as far as I can tell.
Show threadVal Packett 🧉1d ago
@vesto i got a used roborock that didn't need a fancy pcb/connector to root (just soldering to uart pads) which is "old outdated tech" according to mr. valetudo but idk i'm happy with it and don't think i'd ever need the fancy emptying-into-stationary-big-box stuff or whatever xD
Show threadvesto

@valpackett yeah I used to have one that had 0 sensors besides the bump pad in the front: it would just aimlessly bump around my apartment until it ran out of battery and then bump around until it found the IR sensor of the base station. even that alone was a pretty huge improvement over my regular floor cleaning schedule.

I lost it in my move to/from germany (hence splurging for a newer one) but I def agree with you that the bells and whistles of modern robovacs are largely superfluous. anything that vacuums some part of the floor on regular basis is good enough (esp if you have a cat that sheds LITERALLY EVERYWHERE ALL OF THE TIME).

Mar 31 at 6:37pmWeb
Show threadVal Packett 🧉1d ago

@vesto this one has a lidar and persistent maps!! and valetudo docs still call it kinda old gen haha

(i mean it is armv7 but whatever i have so many mainlining devices already that OS level tinkering on a vacuum is out lol)