I must say it looks an awful lot better to have the lid back on roomba. set up was easy going to 192.168.1.3 after joining its network and following the steps. app is a little to be desired on the android - buttons just too small really - need big clunky buttons as you looking at the roomba not the phone.
I was able to set DHPC with MAC easily and as such my ping notifications worked immediate replacing the old set up. also instead of actions being initiated by the app i reverted to URL posts. the below initiates a clean:
As @nitehawk states so far the same as the roowifi but if i have setting saved and better WiFi collectivity then a winner is in the making. already it is better realy as has a nice lid and clearl;y better options for furtur development etc. certain options like over the air update are excellent and will defiantly prove an advantage over time.
I also got my unit. Really nice, initial setup very easy. I am completely new to Vera though, could you describe what I actually need to do with http://ipofyourroomba/command.json?command=clean within Vera to make it something I can use within scenes etc.? Would be much appreciated…
I got some awesome news! Thinking cleaner is shipping me a 700/800 unit to develop a vera plugin for. So that means that this is going to be now an integrated part of vera! So excited. Plus the developers are very responsive. Everyone its time to ditch the Roowifi and go with a great product.
I will look at this if the kickstarter project gets funded and after hardware V2 comes out given the last experiences of V1 of any project gets removed or replaced in the market. Keep it up.
I wasn’t referring to V1 of this specific product. I was referring to all other experiences e.g. Doorbot V1 = dead, Skybell V1 = dead, CO Firealert V1 = dead, etc.
[quote=“undertoe, post:146, topic:177812”]I got some awesome news! Thinking cleaner is shipping me a 700/800 unit to develop a vera plugin for. So that means that this is going to be now an integrated part of vera! So excited. Plus the developers are very responsive. Everyone its time to ditch the Roowifi and go with a great product.
Please help them get up and running. I will keep everyone posted on the plugin development.[/quote]
Please keep us updated. My wife wants a Roomba for Christmas this year so that certainly means I have a desire to automate it. AUTOMATE ALL THE THINGS! It’ll be a 650 but I’ll certainly keep my eye on this thread to see Roowife/Thinking Cleaner progression.
Just installed the Thinking Cleaner Roomba WIFI addon, and right of the bat a way way way way better product than the Roowifi. So good my two Roowifi are for sale. http://www.ebay.com/itm/231427755585
I will be fully supporting this project moving forward. I will also be starting a new thread. If anyone has a roomba that wants to automate it THIS is the solution. The Thinking Cleaner Roomba WIFI added on is it. But it needs to be back in kickstart in order for it to be come an official product and move forward. So don’t just wait for it to happen help make it happen!
[ul][li]Very easy setup through iOS, Android App or just via webpage[/li]
[li]Wifi reception is 10x better than Roowifi[/li]
[li]Free webservice in case you just want to control your roomba outside of your house (not through vera)[/li]
[li]The faceplate makes it look nice and clean like its part of Roomba[/li]
[li]I will be making a plugin to fully support it[/li][/ul]
I will also be doing a full review of this product on youtube after the holidays are over.
I’m interested but not into jumping into kickstarters especially something out of the country for me.
I am curious how you guys got the unit before it was over and such. I thought these things need to collect enough money or it never makes it out of the gate.
Can you give me some more convincing on how this works and where my 150.00 US is going to go should I back it?
[quote=“integlikewhoa, post:152, topic:177812”]I’m interested but not into jumping into kickstarters especially something out of the country for me.
I am curious how you guys got the unit before it was over and such. I thought these things need to collect enough money or it never makes it out of the gate.
Can you give me some more convincing on how this works and where my 150.00 US is going to go should I back it?[/quote]
I believe this is a second batch, along with a second Kickstarter campaign. I’m much more willing to back in this regard since there is a track record of delivering products.
Yes that is correct this is for 500/600 & 700/800 versions. Also I can tell you this the developers have built a lot more polished module than roowifi. Not to mention respond to emails lol. For the roowifi product I had to basically open a dispute with PayPal just to get my product delivered. They would not respond to emails at all. I had my product in 6 business days from Thinking cleaner.
Also don’t look at kickstarter as a scam it just like any product you buy anywhere if you have a problem or you don’t get it kickstarter will refund you or your credit card will if all else fails. Plus kickstarter doesn’t charge you until it’s fully funded. Look at it as group buying to get a product all of us can use off the ground.
[quote=“undertoe, post:154, topic:177812”]Yes that is correct this is for 500/600 & 700/800 versions. Also I can tell you this the developers have built a lot more polished module than roowifi. Not to mention respond to emails lol. For the roowifi product I had to basically open a dispute with PayPal just to get my product delivered. They would not respond to emails at all. I had my product in 6 business days from Thinking cleaner.
Also don’t look at kickstarter as a scam it just like any product you buy anywhere if you have a problem or you don’t get it kickstarter will refund you or your credit card will if all else fails. Plus kickstarter doesn’t charge you until it’s fully funded. Look at it as group buying to get a product all of us can use off the ground.[/quote]
So they have 9 days left and not even halfway to their goal. But yet more then one on here has the product already?
Did they reach the goal the first time? Is it like each batch they produce cost so much (that they don’t have) so they need to get enough pre ordered before they can have a company run the batch?
Hi i am one of the members of the Thinking Cleaner development team and let me clarify some details on questions here.
Although we cannot be on every forum we try to be as responsive as possible.
First and foremost: we are not in the market to talk bad about other initiatives, RooWiFi was one of the first to bridge the serial port to WiFi for engineers to have fun with. The main difference is the target audience for the product. We really tried to make a consumer product by having all electronics embedded in a specially designed faceplate that would be installable and usable by non technical users.
Next, we spent a lot of tuning time in the power-consumption of the device, to minimise the power draw without limiting the functionality. To do this, we use a build in CPU that can work autonomously so we save power on wireless transmission and can do intelligent things like setting timers and schedules without limits. Finally, we created applications for iOS, including HomeKit integration, and Android that can handle multiple devices in one app, and focussed on the user experience. Even blind or visually disabled people can use the app by using Voiceover (spoken interface). We eliminated technical hurdles with NAT routers for non techies (although you could tune this by running your own server) and topped this with very functional elements like the possibility to schedule timers that trigger when you leave (geofencing).
Why do some people already have units?
Since our goal was to create a consumer product we wanted to feel safe before shipping to a wide non technical audience. We chose to allow a group of “techie” users that were proactively interested in our product to register for the first production batch of around 100 units,… Although we are a small team and we have Industrial Design, Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering and UX people in the team we are still human and make mistakes… We wanted this group of first adoption users to give us feedback that had a technical foundation so is was easy to exchange. We set this up on purpose so we tuned the details step by step.
Why are we on Kickstarter?
Every team-member truly is fully engaged in the project and we all funded the start with our own savings and investments from business done earlier. This was a great start to build the PCB and most importantly create the very expensive mould for plastic production for the 500/600 and a first small production run of around 100 units to testdrive.
For the second batch of around 1600 units we decided to go to kickstarter and this gave us the chance to probe the demand, second we could test the demand for the 700/800 series we already designed the faceplate for.
Is kickstarter the right platform to do this?
YES we think kickstarter is a great way to finance projects based un real users demand, however some users are a little scared to donate because they don’t trust the creator to deliver on the promise. To clarify you only pay if there are enough colleague backers to reach the goal,… if the goal is not reached you don’t pay anything. The number of backers indicate the number of trustees in the product. But if the goal is reached you have to trust the creators to deliver on the promise, absolutely true.
That is why we think we can only win your trust by being as open and responsive as possible. We are not perfect but we do our uttermost best, that is the beauty of kickstarter. We believe in it !!! If we make it or not .
Hope i could clarify our project on kickstarter, it is up to you if you trust us to deliver on the promise.
So excited. Plus the developers are very responsive. Everyone its time to ditch the Roowifi and go with a great product.