iRobot Roomba virtual wall DIY

thingiverse

I designed a virtual wall for my Roomba vacuum robot without spending €70 on IR beacons. I searched Thingiverse and found two designs: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2687981 and https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:51372. Those two designs were my starting point, and I created a virtual wall housing using a simple Arduino code for the beacon signal. The tower and cover are designed without holes, so you'll need to drill your own component openings. I included the Fritzing project and Arduino code for reference. To make this project, you'll need to add the necessary components yourself: an Arduino Pro Mini (5V, 16MHz), a DC jack with screw mount, a 5mm IR LED lying around, a 5mm LED holder, a BC547 NPN transistor, a 2k2 Ohm resistor for the transistor, and several other components. Make sure to place the wall about half a meter away from the actual "no go line" due to its wide angle of view.