How to divide rooms on the map of the robot vacuum cleaner Xiaomi

Modern Xiaomi robot vacuum cleaners and their sub-brands, such as Roborock, Viomi or Dreame, have powerful map-building functionality, but often automatic scanning of the room fails. Instead of clearly separating into the living room, kitchen and corridor, you can get one giant space or, conversely, one room torn into many small fragments. Correct zoning is necessary not only for the aesthetics of the application, but also for the correct operation of cleaning scenarios, installing virtual walls and selecting power modes for different types of coating.

The map editing process is available to users who have successfully completed at least one complete cleaning and map building and stored it in the device's memory. Just because your robot "sees" the apartment as a single polygon, it doesn't mean that there's anything wrong with the sensors. Often the reason lies in the complex layout, the presence of mirrors or dark surfaces that knock down the building. LDS-In this article, we will discuss how to manually fix the geometry of a home using the official tools of the Mi Home ecosystem.

It's important to understand that the functionality may vary slightly depending on the server region and firmware version. Room separation and consolidation is only available for saved maps in edit mode, so before starting work, make sure that the robot is on the base and charged. We'll look at the algorithm of actions, typical errors in drawing dividing lines and ways to optimize navigation for models with a laser rangefinder.

Preparation of the map and entry into editing mode

Before you start drawing lines, you need to make sure you have a current and complete map of the room. Open the Mi Home app, select your robot vacuum cleaner and go to the main control screen. If the map is already built but is not displayed correctly, or if you want to improve the existing one, you will need to go to the map settings, usually through a three-dot menu in the upper right corner or through the map settings button in the bottom interface bar.

Find a section called "Maps Edit" or "Maps Management." Some firmware versions may need to switch the app region to "China" to access advanced features, as the Chinese versions are often richer. Once you enter the edit mode, you'll see the current map with tools overlaid on top of it, and that's where the magic of turning chaotic space into a structured circuit of your home takes place.

If the map looks very distorted, it makes sense to reset the current map first and start the robot to build a new one with open doors in all the rooms, but if the geometry is generally correct, and the problem is only that there are no partitions, we move to manual separation, and make sure that the robot is standing at the charging station at that moment and does not try to start cleaning, interrupting your actions.

Separation tools: lines and zones

The main tool for map correction is the Split function, which is usually represented by an icon with a crossed line or scissors in the application interface. The principle is simple: you draw a line through the area you want to cut off from the main array, and the system automatically recognizes this line as a virtual wall separating two independent rooms.

When drawing a dividing line, it is important to consider several technical nuances: the line must pass through free space without crossing existing objects or furniture, if you do not want to create artifacts. After drawing the line, the system will ask you to confirm the action, and a new border will appear on the map. If you do not like the result, you can always use the cancellation function or remove the newly created divider.

• 📐 Accuracy: Try to draw a line strictly perpendicular to or parallel to the walls so that the corners of the rooms look natural.
• 🚧 Gaps: Don’t be afraid to leave small gaps in the doorways if the robot should be able to move between rooms, but you want to logically separate them.
• 🔄 Unification: If you split a room by accident, use the Merge tool to highlight two adjacent areas to erase the boundary between them.

It's worth noting that too much space fragmentation can negatively affect navigation algorithms. Xiaomi robots build routes based on large landmarks. If you create too many small "rooms," the device may become confused in coordinates or think that it's stuck, even though it's actually just gone outside the microscopic zone.

Setting up the names and parameters of rooms

Once you've divided the space into logical zones, it's critical to give them the right names. It's not just a matter of visual convenience; it's a matter of cleaning mode choice. For example, if you call the area "Kitchen," the robot can default to a more intense suction mode, and for the Bedroom it will turn on a quiet mode.

To rename the created area on the map. In the menu that opens, select the type of room from the proposed list: Living room, Bedroom, Kitchen, Corridor, Bathroom, etc. In some models equipped with a camera or more advanced AI, renaming can automatically start the process of recognizing the type of flooring.

In addition, you can customize your settings for each room if the app supports advanced settings (often available in Pro mode or when connecting to servers in China), you can set a ban on wet cleaning for carpet areas or, conversely, prioritize cleaning of high-traffic areas.

Work with 3D-mapping

Xiaomi’s flagship robot models, equipped with new generation lidars and AI-Cameras (e.g. Xiaomi Robot Vacuum series) X10+ Roborock S8), And in this mode, the separation of rooms is even more intelligent, and the camera recognizes obstacles, like chair legs, wires, toys, and even floor types.

When working with 3D-The system can then suggest that you share a room with a map if you see a clear elevation difference or a change in the texture of the floor, but the automation is not always perfect, and sometimes a carpet with a high pile can be perceived as a separate room or, conversely, as an obstacle to be circumvented. In such cases, manual editing through the app remains the only way to make the robot behave predictably.

Use of the 3D-The map also allows you to install virtual walls with reference to the height of objects, which is especially important for protection from entanglement in wires. If you have divided the room correctly, but the robot still ignores the boundaries, check if a tall object (such as a table leg) overlaps the separation line in three-dimensional space.

Typical problems in separation and their solution

One of the most common problems is when a separation line disappears after a map is rebooted or a new cleaning is done, which happens when the robot cannot physically confirm the existence of the wall. Use Virtual Wall to solve this problem, in addition to dividing rooms, draw a red line over the separation line, which will force the robot to strictly comply with the intersection ban.

Another challenge is blind spots, and if you've divided a room, but one of the new parts has no visible landmarks (walls, furniture), the robot may lose orientation, and in those cases, it's useful to add a temporary landmark, such as a chair, to the area that the sensors can read.

⚠️ Note: Do not draw separation lines through the places where the robot is supposed to charge or where the base is located.This can lead to a navigation error, and the device will not be able to return to the base to recharge, stopping in the middle of the room with an error message.

And users often find that after the rooms are separated, the total area of the apartment in the statistics becomes less real. This is normal for algorithms to compress the map data, but if the discrepancy is greater than 10-15%, it is worth checking whether the robot has "eated" part of the space in a corner, considering it inaccessible.

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Tip: Before you save the changes on the map, run the robot for a short cleaning of the selected area to make sure that it correctly perceives the new boundaries and does not try to drive through the virtual wall.

Saving settings and cloud synchronization

Once you've done all the card manipulation, make sure to click the Save button. In the Xiaomi ecosystem, the map is tied to a specific floor or profile. If you have a multi-storey house, you can create multiple maps, but there's always one active. Make sure you edit the one that's active at the moment.

Room settings and dividing lines are synchronized with the Mi Cloud, which means that if you drop the robot before factory settings or buy a new smartphone, re-attaching the device to your account will restore the card along with all zones, but this only works if you did not delete the device completely from your account before resetting.

• ☁️ Cloud Storage: The card is stored on the server, so change the Wi-Fi router (while saving) SSID Passwords and not resetting room settings.
• 📱 Multi-access: If the device is used by several family members, the card changes made by one user will automatically be displayed to everyone who has access to the device in the application.
• 🗺️ Backup: It is recommended to periodically take screenshots of a successfully configured map, since global firmware updates sometimes cause bugs that reset user zone settings.

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The main conclusion: Proper separation of rooms is not only aesthetics, but also a way to extend the life of the robot battery, forcing it to clean only where it is really needed and use the optimal suction power.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

⚠️ Note: When you reset the card (Reset the card in the settings) all the divisions you create, room names and virtual walls will be permanently deleted.