Modern automatic cleaning devices, such as the Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum or the more advanced Roborock series, make cleanliness a completely autonomous process. However, in order for the gadget to work efficiently and not confuse the living room carpet with the tiles in the kitchen, it needs to “explain” the layout of your home, which is why it is used to map and divide into virtual zones.
So, setting up rooms not only prevents the robot from going to certain places, but also sets up customized cleaning scenarios for each room, you can set up high suction power for the carpet in the nursery, and you can set up quiet mode for the bedroom while the child sleeps, all of which are set up through a single control center, the Mi Home mobile app.
In this article, we will discuss in detail the process of creating a map, manual and automatic separation of rooms, as well as setting up virtual walls. Proper configuration of a room map is the key to long battery life and perfect floor cleanliness without your involvement.
Preparation of the device and application for work
Before you start fine-tuning the zones, you need to make sure that the basic integration of the device into the ecosystem is done correctly.The robot must be connected to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network and tied to your account in the Mi Home app. If you have just unpacked the device, it is recommended to start a full automatic cleaning first, so that the LIDAR sensors or gyroscope collect primary data about the geometry of the room.
Make sure there are no extra items on the floor that can knock navigation: wires, socks or toys. The laser rangefinder located on the top panel should have unobstructed view. Also check that the Mi Home app version is updated to the latest available in your region (App Store or Google Play), as the map management interface is often changed by developers.
☑️ Mapping readiness
It's important to note that to build an accurate map, the robot has to start cleaning from the charging station, so don't move the base during the first scan, otherwise the coordinates may get lost, and the virtual map will be skewed or torn, and if that happens, the map will have to be removed and recreated.
Creation and preservation of the first map of the premises
The process of building a map in Xiaomi models with LDS navigation (laser) occurs automatically during the first general cleaning. You just need to press the start button in the application or on the device body. The robot will tour the perimeter, identify walls and obstacles, then the application will appear a schematic image of your house. For models without a laser (gyro navigation), the process can take longer and require several cycles of work.
Once the cleaning cycle is complete, the map will automatically be stored in the device's memory. In the Mi Home app, go to the vacuum control menu and select "Map" or an icon with the floor plan image. Here you will see the current status of the navigation system. If the map looks correct, it must be saved so that the robot can navigate it in the future.
Sometimes, the robot has built a map but not saved it automatically, so in the map settings menu, find the Save or Combine maps button if you've done several steps of cleaning, and without saving the map, room splitting will not be available.
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If the robot is running a second time and building a new map again instead of using the old one, check if you have repositioned the charging station.
Editing tools: separating and uniting zones
Automatically identifying rooms with a robot vacuum cleaner often fails: it can combine the kitchen and corridor into one huge space, or, conversely, divide one living room into several parts due to a high threshold or carpet. To correct these errors, the Mi Home app provides a powerful map editor. You can log in by clicking on the Edit button (usually an icon of a pencil or tools) in map viewing mode.
The room-sharing feature allows you to draw a gap line where the robot mistakenly joined two rooms, and this is true for studios or large open spaces. You have to choose the "Separate" tool, draw a line through a doorway or a narrow passageway, and the system will divide the area into two independent zones with the possibility of assigning different names to them.
The opposite is when the corridor is broken up into pieces, and it uses the "Unite" tool, and by highlighting adjacent areas, you create a single logical zone for cleaning, which makes it easier to choose "Silent Cleaning" or "Maximum Power" mode for an entire floor or corridor, rather than for each small segment separately.
When working with an editor, it's important to be careful, because the separation lines should be clearly along the walls or doorways, and if you draw a line through the center of the room, the robot will think that there's a wall there, and can ignore part of the floor when cleaning the zones.
Configure virtual walls and forbidden areas
One of the most useful features in the Xiaomi Vacuum arsenal is creating virtual constraints. Unlike physical magnetic tapes that need to be glued to the floor, virtual walls are programmatically configured and only act when you need them, especially for protection against falling down stairs (unless the model has a elevation sensor) or bypassing places where there are bowls of water for animals.
In the map editing menu, select the Virtual Wall tool or the Forbidden Zone tool, and you can draw a rectangle or a line that will be an insurmountable barrier to the robot. There are two main types of constraints: an invisible wall that cannot be crossed, and a No-Go zone, where the robot must not even partially enter.
Virtual walls can be turned on and off on a schedule or manually before cleaning starts. For example, if you have decomposed drying linen on the floor, just activate the no-go zone in the app, and the robot will tour the area. After cleaning, you can remove the restriction, returning the room to its original availability.
⚠️ Note: Virtual walls only work in the navigation mode of the saved map. If you run the robot in the mode "Local cleaning" or without saving the map, the software restrictions may not apply, and the device will ignore the prohibitions.
Cleaning modes and individual settings for rooms
Once the map is divided into rooms, each room can be assigned unique cleaning options, which turns a simple vacuum cleaner into an intelligent assistant, go to the settings of a particular room on the map and select your preferred mode of operation.
For a kitchen where there is often fat and crumbs, it is logical to set maximum suction and double aisle. For a bedroom where silence is important, select Quiet Mode and standard power. For a living room with a carpet, activate Carpet Mode, which will automatically increase traction when you arrive on a fuzzy surface.
Cleaning sequence is also available, so you can set the order in which the robot will visit the rooms, such as first dry areas (living room, bedroom), and then wet or more polluted (kitchen, hallway), so as not to carry dirt around a clean house on a wet cloth.
| Setup parameter | Description of function | Recommended application |
|---|---|---|
| Suction power | Adjustment of motor strength (Quiet, Standard, Max, Turbo) | Quiet for the night, Turbo for carpets and wool |
| Washing intensity | The speed of water supply to the cloth (low, medium, high) | High for kitchen, low for laminate |
| Virtual wall | Prohibition of crossing a line or entering a zone | Wire protection, bowls, curtains |
| Consistency | Room visit procedure by robot | From the far rooms to the exits |
What is a Carpet-Free mode?
Scheduling management and multi-mapping
For owners of two-storey houses or apartments of complex shape, the problem of storing several cards is relevant. Old models supported only one card, but modern versions of Mi Home firmware and firmware robots allow you to save up to 4-5 cards. Switching between floors is automatic: if you move the robot to the second floor and start cleaning, he will understand that the map does not match, and offer to create a new one or use the saved one.
You can set up a schedule to automate the process, you can set up a kitchen every day at 10:00, and a general cleaning of the entire apartment on Saturdays at 12:00, and you can detail the task: specify the specific rooms, capacity and mode (dry or wet).
To activate the schedule, go to the timer menu, create a new task, and select a script, and the system will allow you to select the days of the week and specific parameters for each run, eliminating the need to constantly monitor the process through your smartphone.
⚠️ Note: When creating a schedule, make sure that the selected rooms on the floor do not have obstacles (boxes, chairs) that the robot cannot get around. The schedule is automatic and you may not be home to save a stuck device.
Solving Typical Navigation Problems
Even with perfect setup, there can be situations where the robot “lost” or builds an incorrect map, often due to poor lighting or too bright light hitting the sensors, as well as black carpets that the laser rangefinder perceives as a cliff (a pit), in which case the robot may refuse to go on the black carpet or build virtual walls around it.
If the card is constantly "scattering" or shifting after each cleaning, try resetting the map and creating it again, before cleaning the room as much as possible. Also check the purity of the sensors: wipe the drop sensor, the side sensor and, most importantly, the window of the laser rangefinder on the upper tower with soft cloth.
Sometimes changing the region in the Mi Home app helps. Some mapping features work better when choosing a China region, but this can lead to increased server latency. If the card problems are critical, try changing the region in the profile settings.
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The stability of navigation depends on the purity of the sensors and the absence of mirror or glossy surfaces that can distort the signal of the lidar.