How to create a cleaning map for a robot vacuum cleaner Xiaomi Mi: step-by-step instructions

The Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum and Roborock are equipped with a sophisticated laser rangefinder (LDS) or camera (VSLAM) navigation system, but to make the device work as efficiently as possible, it is not enough for it to simply go around the room - you need to create and save a digital copy of your home. Without a properly formed cleaning map, the robot will work chaoticly, often losing or missing areas.

The process of mapping, often referred to as “training” a device, requires the user to follow a specific algorithm of actions, not just scanning the space, but forming a logical structure that the vacuum processor will use to build a route. In this article, we will examine all the nuances from the preparation of the room to manual editing of virtual walls.

Many owners experience a situation where after the first cleaning, the map is not saved or displayed with errors, this is due to a violation of the route construction conditions or unstable connection. The correct configuration of the navigation system will allow you to start cleaning individual rooms or create forbidden areas in the future, which greatly increases the autonomy of the gadget.

Preparation of premises and base station

Before you start the mapping process, you need to prepare a physical space. The laser rangefinder mounted on the device body is sensitive to obstacles and reflective surfaces. Remove from the floor wires, socks and small objects that can get stuck in brushes or knock the orientation of sensors. Windows should be closed with curtains, since direct sunlight can blind sensors and disrupt positioning.

Pay special attention to the location of the charging base. It should be standing against the wall, with free space of at least 0.5 meters on the sides and 1.5 meters in front. If the base is in a niche or under a table with a dark countertop, the robot may lose the signal or can not return to recharging correctly, which will interrupt the process of creating a map.

• 🧹 Remove all foreign objects from the floor so that they do not interfere with the movement of the wheels.
• 🚪 Leave all interior doors open for unimpeded access to all rooms.
• 🌞 Curtain windows if direct sunlight hits the floor, creating glare.
• 🔌 Make sure the base is connected to the outlet and the indicators are on with even light.

It is also important to check the condition of the device itself: wipe the sensors on the case and, most importantly, wipe the protective glass of the laser rangefinder (turret) with a dry soft cloth. Even a thin layer of dust can distort the distance to the walls, which will lead to the appearance of “phantom” objects on the map.

The process of first scanning and mapping

Starting the initial scan is a critical step that can't be interrupted. Open the Mi Home or Roborock app, select your device and go to Control Mode. You have to choose Quiet Cleaning mode or just run a standard house cleaning routine, and the main condition is that the robot has to remove all available space in one cycle.

During this process, the SLAM algorithm (simultaneous localization and mapping) builds a real-time model of the room. The robot moves around the perimeter, then zigzags, scanning the corners and protrusions. In the app, you'll see the gray outline of the map fill up in real time. Don't pick up the device at this time, otherwise the process will start anew.

If Xiaomi's robot vacuum cleaner successfully completes the cycle and returns to base, the system will automatically prompt you to save the map. Importantly, the preservation only occurs after you successfully return to base and complete the cleaning cycle. If you interrupt the manual cleaning or the device gets stuck and discharged, the map may not be saved or may be fragmented.

For VSLAM models, lighting conditions are even more important, and in total darkness, they make the map worse, so it is recommended to provide moderate artificial light in the rooms when starting the first run.

Zoning setting and room separation

Once the base map is created, it often needs to be reworked. The standard algorithm can combine the kitchen and the living room into one large area or misdetermine the corridor boundaries. To fix this, the application has a map editing function. Click on the edit icon (usually a pencil or a divided square) in the upper right corner of the map screen.

The "Separate" tool allows you to draw a line where the robot thinks there's no wall, but it actually has an arch or a wide passageway, and the "Connect" tool, on the contrary, blurs the boundaries between adjacent zones, and this is necessary for the "Cleaning a particular room" function to work properly.

• 📐 Use the “Separate” tool to fence off the kitchen from the living room if they are combined.
• 🔗 Use "Unite" if the corridor is divided into several small fragments.
• 🔄 The Reset button will return the card to its original state if you made an editing error.
• 🏷️ Rename the rooms (Bedroom, Kitchen) to make voice control work properly.

Proper zoning is not just for convenience, it's also for statistics, and when rooms are named and separated, you can see in history which site was cleaned and how long it took, and it's especially useful for estimating the degree of contamination in different areas of an apartment.

Virtual Walls and No-Go Zones

One of the most useful features of Xiaomi's ecosystem is the ability to create virtual constraints, which, unlike physical magnetic tapes that need to be glued to the floor, virtual walls are drawn with a finger directly on the smartphone screen, which allows you to flexibly control the behavior of the robot in different situations.

There are two main types of constraints: the "no-go zone" (square) and the "virtual wall" (line). The no-go zone is conveniently placed on places where there is a bowl of water for animals, there are toys scattered, or there is a fragile vase. The robot will ignore this area completely. The virtual wall works as a barrier that the device will not cross, for example, so as not to go into the bathroom or on the carpet with a long pile.

When you build virtual walls, it's important to consider the positioning error. The robot can stop 5-10 cm from the line drawn. So always make a small margin by drawing boundaries around valuable objects. Also remember that virtual walls are tied to a map. If you move the base or change the furniture a lot, the boundaries can move relative to real objects.

⚠️ Note: Virtual walls and zones only operate in map or room mode. If you run a robot vacuum cleaner in Local Cleaning or Zigzag mode without using a map, ignoring the zones may not work, because navigation in these modes works differently.

Keeping several maps and floors

Owners of multi-storey buildings or apartments with complex layout will be useful to know that modern models Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum (especially the series S5 Max, S6, S7, S8 and newer) support saving up to 4 cards.

To make the system switch between floors correctly, you first need to create a map for each level separately, move the base and the robot to the second floor, start a full cleaning to build a new map, and after saving the system itself will realize that this is a new map, and suggest switching to it or saving it as a new one.

When switching between floors, the robot may require calibration or re-scanning if the furniture arrangement has changed dramatically. Old models that support only one card will get lost when transferred to another floor and try to find their only stored base, which can lead to discharge in the wrong place.

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If you've rearranged the furniture in a room, you don't have to rebuild the whole map. In most cases, the robot adapts to new obstacles in real time, just bypassing them, and you only need to remodel the map when you're overhauling or moving.

Solution: Card is not saved or lost

The most common problem is that the robot is gone, but the card disappears after the reboot or does not appear in the application, which often happens if the Wi-Fi is lost during cleaning or the device was picked up by the user, in which case a temporary file remains in memory that was not fixed as permanent.

Another is the contamination of sensors or wheels, where if one of the wheels is hanging over (for example, because of a hair that has fallen in), the robot may misjudge the distance traveled, and the map will be “teared” or misaligned, and problems can also arise when using mirrored surfaces or black carpets, which the laser rangefinder perceives as empty.

• 📶 Check the stability of the Wi-Fi signal in the far corners of the apartment.
• 🧹 Clean the main wheel and side brush of wound hair.
• 🔄 Perform a full reset of the map through the settings menu and start building again.
• 🔋 Make sure the base charge is 100% before starting a long scan.

If the card is being rebuilt every time and doesn't accumulate, try looking for Card Mode or Permanent Card in the robot's settings and activate it. Some models default to no card mode to save resources until the user explicitly asks to save the route.

⚠️ Warning: Never wipe the laser rangefinder lens with wet cloth or chemicals. Use only dry microfiber. LDS Guaranteedly puts an expensive module out of order and the robot will stop building the map.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions

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The key to the successful operation of the Xiaomi robot vacuum cleaner is a one-time high-quality map construction in ideal conditions, after which the device will use this template effectively for navigation for years.