Modern robot vacuum cleaners Xiaomi and Roborock have powerful navigation functionality, but to work perfectly they often require user assistance. After the first complete cleaning, the Mi Home app forms a digital copy of your home, which by default can contain unnecessary furniture or incorrect room boundaries. Editing this map is a key step in setting up to prohibit cleaning in certain areas or divide rooms into logical blocks.
The setup process does not require deep technical knowledge, but it has its own nuances depending on the device model and software version. Properly configured navigation significantly extends battery life and improves the quality of floor cleaning. In this article, we will discuss all the tools available for working with the map, including creating virtual walls, splitting and combining rooms, and recovering data in the event of a failure.
To get started, make sure your robot completes the first full cleaning and returns to base successfully. Only then will the full map of the room be available in the Mi Home app. If the device has just built a map but you haven't saved it yet, any editing attempts may be unavailable or reset once restarted.
Save the map and basic settings
The first and most critical step is to fix the created plan of the room. Many users make the mistake of starting editing immediately after the appearance of the wall contours, without waiting for the cleaning cycle to complete. Save the map automatically after the successful return of the dock, but sometimes manual confirmation is required in the application interface.
Go to the Mi Home app and select your vacuum cleaner. On the home screen where the map is displayed, find the three-dot button or the map settings icon. In the menu that opens, you must select the option to Save the map or Edit the map. If the system suggests renaming the map (such as Map 1, Map 2), do so for convenience, especially if you have a multi-storey house.
⚠️ Warning: Do not delete the saved map unless you plan to build it again from scratch. Deleting it will result in the loss of all customized zones, virtual walls and room separations.
Once saved, the map becomes editable, and you can change its orientation if the robot plots the map at the wrong angle, using a rotating tool that allows you to rotate the image 90, 180, or 270 degrees to match the actual location of the spaces.
Separation and merging of rooms
One of the most useful features is the ability to divide large spaces into separate zones or to combine small corridors. The robot can by default perceive the living room and kitchen as a single unit, if there are no pronounced sills or walls between them.
In edit mode, select the "Separate" tool (an icon with a dotted line or scissors). Draw a line through the map at the place where the boundary between the rooms should be located. The line should connect to the walls or go beyond the map on both sides so that the system recognizes the gap.
☑️ Checking the separation of rooms
The reverse operation, called Unification, is necessary when the robot mistakenly splits one room into two parts. Choose the "Combine" tool, then tap the two adjacent areas that you want to glue together. The system recalculates the area and creates a single cleaning area.
What if the room is divided by itself?
Once separated or combined, be sure to rename the zones created, which will make selective cleaning easier: you can send the robot to the Kitchen or Bedroom with a voice command or through smart home scenarios.
Creation of virtual walls and forbidden zones
Virtual walls are software barriers that a robot cannot cross, and they're indispensable if you have places where a vacuum cleaner is not allowed to enter: a cat toilet tray, a wired area on the floor, or a fragile vase. There are two main types of constraints: a virtual wall (line) and a no-go zone (square).
The virtual wall works like an invisible fence. The robot will run into it and go the other way. This is perfect for cutting off part of the hallway or blocking the entrance to another room without putting in physical magnetic tapes. The forbidden zone is used for point objects. For example, you can draw a square around the chair leg if the robot is constantly stuck on it.
To create a constraint, go to map editing mode and select the appropriate tool. A frame or line will appear on the screen that you can drag and stretch with your finger. Precisely position the boundaries, leaving a small margin, since the robot's sensors have an error.
| Type of restriction | Form | Best application |
|---|---|---|
| Virtual wall | Line | Blocking of passages, corridors, entrances |
| The no-go zone | Square. | Bypass wires, bowl of pets, toys |
| The Invisible Wall | Line (unilateral) | Prohibition of leaving the room (depending on the model) |
The number of virtual walls and zones is limited by the memory of the device. 10-20 Try not to overuse them so as not to overload the robot's processor when calculating the route.
Set-up of cleaning sequence
Once the map is divided into rooms, the Cleaning Sequence function becomes available, which allows you to set the order in which the robot will visit the premises, for example, it makes sense to first remove the bedroom and the nursery, and then move to a more polluted kitchen and hallway.
In the map editing menu, look for "Cleaning Order" or "Sequence," and you'll see numbered rooms. You can change priority by clicking on them, and the robot will clean the rooms in a predetermined order, returning to base only after all the tasks have been completed or when the charge is low.
This feature is especially useful for large apartments, where one charge may not be enough for the entire area at once, and if the robot goes to recharge, it will continue cleaning from where it left off, following the sequence of rooms you have set.
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Set up different scenarios for different days: on weekdays, clean only the kitchen and corridor, and on weekends start a full cleaning of all rooms in turn.
Multi-card work
Xiaomi's flagship robot vacuum cleaner models support multiple maps in memory, and this is true for multi-storey homes or complex apartment layouts where the robot may lose orientation, and each card is stored as a separate file.
To create a new floor map, move the robot to a new location and start building the map in Quiet Cleanup mode or through a special menu if available. Once completed, the robot will suggest saving the new map under a different name. Switching between floors is automatic when you move the base and the robot, or manually through the application.
When working with multiple maps, the changes made on the first floor map will not apply to the second floor.
⚠️ Note: If you move the robot to another floor without the multi-rotation feature (in older models), the map may get lost.
Recovery and resetting of the card
Sometimes, the map is built with errors: entire rooms are missed, phantom walls appear, or the robot starts to throw around randomly, in which case Resetting the map helps, this operation removes the current plan and all settings (walls, zones, sequences), returning the device to the factory navigation parameters.
To reset, go to the map settings in the Mi Home app and select Delete the card or Reset. Then start the robot to clean the entire open apartment. Make sure all doors are open and obstacles (slippers, wires) are removed so that the device builds the most accurate plan.
If the problem recurs after several attempts, it may be contaminated with the laser rangefinder (LiDAR) or wheels. Wipe the sensors with dry soft cloth. Also check if the top rotating element is stuck.
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The quality of the map depends on the cleanliness of the sensors and the lighting, so wipe the sensors before each complete map reconstruction.