OK, so this is what I've been up to (still a work in progress)...
My Roomba interface is spread across three control pages:
1.
I have some Roomba preferences on my Settings page:
- settings-1.jpg (5.9 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
These settings control if lights will come on automatically in the area my Roomba is cleaning (I regularly clean a few areas at night). Lights will come on at mission start, either only when it's dark, or all the time (like on a gloomy day). Or not at all if no preferences are checked. The lights are all controlled by an external python script, which remembers which lights should come on for a given area. It also tracks which lights were already on, before mission start. And then the same script turns off the lights at mission end in the area just cleaned. Any lights that were on before the Roomba started will remain on after the mission is done. Otherwise I might get left sitting in the dark!!
The area's lights will go off during a recharge (so they don't stay on for the hour or two the Roomba is charging mid-mission). And then they'll go back on when the mission resumes.
2.
I have the main Roomba control and state elements in an area on my System page:
- system-1.jpg (28.05 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
Mostly self-explanatory (at least to me!!
). The light grey numbers indicate approximate runtime for each area. Those were originally just labels, then I converted them to variables, because I was going to use them to determine how long an area's lights should stay on. But now the lights stay on until the Roomba is done vacuuming (but no longer), because runtime can vary by a lot, depending on too many factors. So the grey numbers are now just for my own reference (approximately how long a mission should take).
If the preferences and conditions dictate, an area's lights come on when I first click an area button. Those buttons then initiate the Roomba cleaning cycle for that area. This "one-click" setup is so much more convenient than messing with the iRobot app, which has too many features requiring too many touches to get the vac going. Not to mention my app regularly loses contact with my Roomba, requiring an app restart. Seems to be a known issue. The plug-in has yet to lose track of my Roomba. Hey, if you're going to pay to make vacuuming automatic, might as well make it as convenient as possible!
The last line is where I track the last area that was cleaned, how long it took, and when it occurred.
Here's a shot of the same elements when a mission first starts.
- system-2.jpg (28.79 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
Green light indicates the Roomba is cleaning. Yellow light indicates some lights were turned on for this mission.
Towards mission end:
- system-3.jpg (29.43 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
Green indicator went off when the Roomba finished vacuuming.
The yellow Lights indicator (and the area's lights) went off when the Roomba docked.
NotReady text shows up as orange.
ErrorText shows up as bright red.
3.
In an area on my primary "home" page, I have a simpler, smaller version. It houses a few control buttons, the lights indicator, battery life, and some custom statements and messages derived from various Roomba states. It lights up green, orange or red to indicate cleaning, not ready or errors. The yellow area light indicator is also a button. I can turn lights on or off manually for the area currently being cleaned. The errornotReady_Statement appears in orange, lower on my home page where there is room for longer sentences.
The middle line of text is derived from the currentState_Statement. I modified a handful of the statements to my liking, the rest pass through as is.
The bottom line of text expounds on the currentState_Statement, mostly tracking the current area or last area being cleaned, how long it took, and when the mission occurred (because my brain can't remember what I did 5 minutes ago
).
Here's a series of screenshots of my Roomba in action:
- house-1.jpg (6.12 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
- house-2.jpg (6.45 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
- house-3.jpg (6.45 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
- house-4.jpg (6.32 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
- house-5.jpg (5.75 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
- house-6.jpg (6.1 KiB) Viewed 6514 times
Anywho... some examples of the things you can do with this fantastic plug-in and a little imagineering. Thanks again, Glenn, for making all this possible, and easy(ish)!