Building an Open-Source Robot Vacuum — Meet OOMWOO - Makers Pet

Today I’m kicking off my most ambitious Maker’s Pet project yet: oomwoo, an open-source home robot vacuum that you can build yourself. Open hardware, open firmware, open software — and built in public, from the first commit.No cloud required. No vendor lock-in. It maps your home with an affordable 2D LiDAR and navigates on its own, runs locally, and integrates natively with Home Assistant. If you’re into Raspberry Pi, ROS 2, 3D printing, or just the idea of owning a vacuum you fully understand and control — this one’s for you.About the name: “oomwoo” is a rotational ambigram — it reads the same flipped 180°, just like the robot itself roaming your floor in every direction.Reference design — roughly how the finished oomwoo will look.What oomwoo isoomwoo is a build-it-yourself robot vacuum designed for the maker community:Affordable and fully open — hardware, software, and firmware2D LiDAR mapping and autonomous navigation with ROS 2 / Nav2Native Home Assistant integration for local control3D-printable, documented, hackable chassisLocal-first — no cloud needed for everyday cleaning, everHome-appliance quality — not a throwaway buildStep-by-step, zero-to-hero build instructions, with a complete bill of materials so you can source every part yourselfOptional extras — cloud features, and eventually an app store of ROS 2 apps to customize how your vacuum behaves — will layer on top. But the core promise never changes: the vacuum always works cloud-free and local, out of the box.The underside of the reference design.Where the project is todayThis is genuinely early — and that’s the point of building in public. The first milestone (v0) is a bare-bones, working build:3D-printed chassisROS 2 Gazebo simulationLiDAR with manual SLAMROS 2 on a Raspberry Pi 5 and/or ESP32 running micro-ROS (final architecture still being decided)The open-source deliverables I’m working toward: bill of materials, 3D-printable files, ROS 2 packages, firmware, a motor-driver and sensor PCB, full build / bringup / troubleshooting docs, and demo videos.Top cover removed — a peek at the internal layout.

Build it with me — massively in paralleloomwoo is organized so the community can build it in parallel. The robot and its software are split into self-contained modules. You pick whatever module interests you, work on it whenever you want, and submit your work as a pull request. Multiple people can tackle the same module — the best solution surfaces over time.Modules ready to start right now include:ROS 2 URDF + Gazebo simulation — robot model, TF, bumper, simFirst clean — coverage cleaning while SLAM-mapping and exploringDust bin — design, 3D print, and testVacuum fan / blower assembly — blower motor, impeller, volute housingIf you’d like to jump in, the GitHub repo has the module list, the architecture doc, and contribution guidelines.Follow alongI’ll be sharing progress, dead ends, and wins as they happen:GitHub: github.com/makerspet/oomwoo — code, docs, and discussionsDiscord: join the build chatYouTube: build-in-public channelReddit: r/ArduinoAndRoboticsX: @0OMWO0Follow OOMWOO buildOpen-source robot vacuum community build updatesParts KitEverything about oomwoo stays open — you can source every part yourself. If you’d rather skip the parts hunt, a convenience kit (motors, PCB, brushes, gaskets, LiDAR) will be available here at Maker’s Pet, from the same maker behind this project. The kit is a convenience, never a requirement.More oomwoo: repos & tutorialsMain project (RFCs, BOM, design docs): github.com/makerspet/oomwoooomwoo-one — first model, ROS 2 + Gazebo simulation: github.com/makerspet/oomwoo-oneoomwoo-install — ROS 2 / Docker dev environment: github.com/makerspet/oomwoo-installTutorial: How to source the BOM for oomwoo