Automating home cleaning has become a standard feature available to owners of Xiaomi devices. Today's robot vacuum cleaners are able not only to randomly rush around the room, but also to perform complex cleaning scenarios with an accuracy of a centimeter. You do not need programming knowledge, you just need to configure the software correctly.
In this article, we will discuss how to program a Xiaomi vacuum cleaner to clean a specific place using the functions of virtual walls and zones. You will learn to create schedules that will activate the device when there is no one in the house, or when you need to clean up only the kitchen after cooking.
The right setup allows you to significantly extend the life of the battery and filters, because the robot will not waste resources on already clean areas of the floor, this is especially true for apartments with pets or children, where pollution is uneven.
Necessary conditions and preparation for setting up
Before you start fine-tuning your routes, make sure your equipment is ready to go.The basic requirement is to have a Xiaomi Vacuum or Roborock robot vacuum cleaner with laser navigator (LDS) support or cameras. Models without navigation may not support zoning.
Make sure that the Mi Home or Roborock app is installed on your smartphone and updated to the latest version.The robot should be connected to a 2.4GHz Wi-Fi network, as most smart devices do not work at 5GHz.
⚠️ Warning: If the map of the room is not yet built or it is incorrect (contains errors, artifacts), the adjustment of the zones will not be possible.
Check the status of the firmware update. Often, new zoning features come with software updates. Go to your device settings and click on the firmware version to check for new data packets.
Creation and editing of a room map
The foundation for programming cleaning is a digital map, and the robot builds it on its first run using lidar data, but automatic room division doesn't always match reality, and it requires your intervention.
For manual editing, go to map management mode, and you'll see an interface where you can combine divided zones or divide too much space, and click on the edit icon to activate the tools.
- 🏠 Room separation: draw a line through the room to divide it into two independent zones, such as separating the kitchen from the corridor.
- 🔗 Unification: If the robot mistakenly divided the living room into parts, use the function of merging segments.
- 🚫 Removal: erase erroneously created zones or artifacts that have been created by reflecting rays from mirrors.
After adjustment, be sure to save the changes. Without saving, all manipulations will be lost after restarting or the next run. A map with the correct room division is the key to selective cleaning.
Why can the map get lost?
The map can get lost if you move the base or furniture while the robot is running, and if there are many shiny surfaces in the room that distort the lidar signal.> Setup virtual walls and forbidden zones One of the most useful features is the creation of virtual walls (No-Go Zones). These are invisible barriers that the robot cannot cross. These are indispensable if you want to protect carpets with a long pile, the area around the bowl of water for the pet or the place where the wires are scattered. To set the restrictions, go to the map menu and select the tool "Virtual wall" or "There is a robot that can be removed from the area, and you can also perceive the area." If you activate this function and specify the area of the carpet, the robot will either bypass this area when wet cleaning is enabled, or, in advanced models, automatically increase the suction power and raise the module with the cloth. ⚠️ Attention: Virtual walls only work if you have a saved card. In "no card" mode or when using magnetic tapes (in older models), the software restrictions do not apply. Programming cleaning on a schedule for specific areas Now we move to the main question: How to get a robot to clean only the kitchen on Tuesdays and Fridays at 10:00, using a room-bound timer function, and in the app, find the "Timer" or "Schedule" section. Press the add-on button for the new schedule. First, select the start time and the days of the week. Then, in the task settings menu that appears, select the option “Clean the room” or “Select the zone". You can select several rooms, but you can choose to do a spot cleaning, but you can only choose one. After choosing, confirm the action. Task creation algorithm: 1. Open the Timer tab 2. Press + (Add) 3. Select the time and days 4. Press Cleanup Mode -> Rooms 5. Task setting allows you to flexibly manage cleanliness. For example, you can set up a daily cleaning of the hallway in the evening, you can use the Google scripts, you can do a cleanup at home, and you can use the entire Google house with a polling room. This requires linking the Mi Home account to the appropriate service. Once authorized, the robot will appear in the smart home device list. You can say, "Alice, turn on kitchen cleaning," and the robot will execute the command if it was pre-set as a script or if the model supports voice room launch. Voice room support Complexity of settings Stability Yandex.Alice High Low High Google Assistant Medium Medium Depends on the Apple HomeKit region Low (start/stop only) High Very High Siri Shorts Depends on the scenario High High High High High High Rooms Rooms.Ser Stability of the Internet, however, you need to use the voice commands so conveniently when you are using the voice. Typical errors and solutions, even when set up correctly, there can be situations where the robot ignores commands or removes the wrong commands, most often the problem lies in the malfunction of navigation or network failures. If the robot can't see the virtual walls, check if the map has been dropped. Sometimes when you move the base to a new location (even a few centimeters), the coordinates get lost, and the old zone settings become irrelevant. 📉 Weak Wi-Fi signal: If the robot loses communication while loading the schedule, the command may not execute. 🔄 Synchronization failures: check if the time on the smartphone matches the time on the robot's system. 🧹 Sensor pollution: If the collision sensor or lidar is contaminated, the robot may position itself incorrectly on the map and miss the zones. ⚠️ Warning: Don't move the vacuum cleaner base after the map has been built and the zones have been set up. The robot is tied to the base coordinates, and its displacement will cause the virtual walls to be out of place. Frequently asked questions (FAQ) Can you program multiple rooms to be cleaned at different times? Yes, you can create multiple timers, like one timer for 10:00 for the kitchen, and one timer for 14:00 for the living room, just add as many schedules as you need. What happens if I rearrange the furniture after setting up the zones? The robot will try to avoid new obstacles, but the virtual walls will remain at the old coordinates. If furniture blocked the way to the cleaning area, the robot may not get to it. Does programming areas without the Internet work? No. It requires an active Internet connection to download schedules and commands from the application. However, if the schedule is already loaded into the robot's memory, it can run it by internal clock, but the execution status will not be updated in the application until the network appears. How to cancel the scheduled cleaning? Open the application, go to the "Timer" section and turn off the switch opposite the desired schedule, or delete it completely. You can also just turn off the robot with a button on the case.