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Building an Open-Source Robot Vacuum – Meet Oomwoo

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Why This Matters

The Oomwoo open-source robot vacuum represents a significant shift towards customizable, privacy-focused home automation devices. By offering a fully open, locally-controlled alternative to proprietary vacuums, it empowers makers and consumers to understand, modify, and trust their smart home technology, fostering innovation and data privacy in the industry.

Key Takeaways

I’m starting a new build-in-public project: oomwoo, an open-source robot vacuum you build yourself. Raspberry Pi, ROS 2, 2D LiDAR, Home Assistant, 3D printed, local-first — and open from the first commit.

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 is

oomwoo is a build-it-yourself robot vacuum designed for the maker community:

Affordable and fully open — hardware, software, and firmware

— hardware, software, and firmware 2D LiDAR mapping and autonomous navigation with ROS 2 / Nav2

with ROS 2 / Nav2 Native Home Assistant integration for local control

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