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Oomwoo, an open-source robot vacuum you build yourself

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Why This Matters

Oomwoo represents a significant shift towards open-source, customizable home automation devices, empowering consumers and makers to build and control their own robot vacuums without vendor lock-in or cloud dependency. This project highlights the growing trend of local-first, privacy-focused smart home solutions that prioritize user ownership and transparency.

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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