Dbochman/crosstown-roomba

Crosstown Roomba Control (Boston)

Control two iRobot Roombas at Crosstown (Boston — Crosstown residence) via local MQTT through the MacBook Pro.

Robots

| Name | Aliases | Model | Notes | |------|---------|-------|-------| | roomba | 10max, combo, max | Roomba Combo 10 Max | Vacuums + mops, has dock with auto-empty and tank | | scoomba | j5 | Roomba J5 | Vacuum only |

Use all to target both robots.

Robot names and aliases are exact (case-insensitive). Never guess from a partial name: if a requested name is not listed above, ask the user to clarify instead of substituting a robot.

Commands

Check status (battery, mission, bin)

crosstown-roomba status           # both robots
crosstown-roomba status roomba    # just 10 Max
crosstown-roomba status scoomba   # just J5

Start cleaning

crosstown-roomba start all        # start both
crosstown-roomba start roomba     # just 10 Max

Stop / Pause / Resume

crosstown-roomba stop roomba
crosstown-roomba pause scoomba
crosstown-roomba resume scoomba

Return to dock

crosstown-roomba dock all

The dock command automatically sends stop first, then dock. This is necessary because iRobot's MQTT dock command alone does not interrupt an active cleaning cycle — the robot ignores it while in run phase.

Before docking, the CLI must successfully read mission status. If the robot is already charging (cleanMissionStatus.phase == "charge"), it safely skips that robot. Otherwise it requires both the pre-dock stop command and stop-state verification to succeed before sending dock; a failed stop is never ignored. With dock all, the other robot is still processed normally.

Locate (play sound)

crosstown-roomba find roomba

WiFi info

crosstown-roomba wifi roomba

Full robot state (JSON)

crosstown-roomba state roomba     # requires specific robot name

List robots

crosstown-roomba list

Results and verification

Action commands (start, stop, pause, resume, dock, and find) print one JSON summary with a results entry for every targeted robot. Check both the process exit status and each result's ok, verification, phase, and error fields. When targeting all, the CLI attempts both robots and exits nonzero if either one fails; a successful first robot never hides a failed second robot.

The CLI polls mission status a bounded number of times after stateful actions:

• start / resume must reach run
• pause must reach pause
• stop must reach stop or charge
• dock must report a return-to-dock phase or charge
• find has no persistent mission state, so only its command response is checked

A timeout or mismatched phase is a failure even when MQTT initially accepted the action. dock success confirms that return-to-dock began (or the robot is already charging); it does not wait indefinitely for physical docking.

Architecture

Roomba 10 Max ←─MQTT:8883─→ roomba-cmd.js (MacBook Pro) ←─SSH─→ crosstown-roomba CLI (Mac Mini)
Roomba J5     ←─MQTT:8883─→ roomba-cmd.js (MacBook Pro) ←─SSH─→      (same CLI)

• roomba-cmd.js on the MacBook Pro connects to the robot via dorita980 MQTT, runs the command, disconnects
• The CLI SSHs into the MacBook Pro for each command (connect-per-request, no persistent MQTT)
• Each command takes ~5-10s due to SSH + MQTT connect/disconnect
• SSH, invalid JSON, robot-reported errors, and verification failures all produce a nonzero CLI exit

Dog Walk Mode

IMPORTANT: During walk hours (8-10 AM, 11 AM-1 PM, 5-8 PM), ALWAYS use dog-walk-start instead of crosstown-roomba start. This starts Roombas AND activates return monitoring (Fi GPS + WiFi + Ring motion), so they auto-dock when Dylan/Julia return. Without this, Roombas run until battery dies.

dog-walk-start crosstown   # Start Roombas + return monitoring

Use bare crosstown-roomba start ONLY for non-walk cleaning (cleaning day, routine, etc.) where you don't need auto-dock on return.

Disambiguation

• "vacuum", "roomba", "clean" at Crosstown → this skill
• "crosstown roomba", "boston roomba", "house roomba" → this skill
• "cabin roomba", "floomba", "philly" → roomba skill (Google Assistant)
• If location is ambiguous, ask which location

Skill Boundaries

This skill controls Roombas at Crosstown only (Combo 10 Max + J5 via MQTT through MacBook Pro).

For related tasks, switch to:

• roomba: Roomba control at the Cabin (Floomba + Philly via Google Assistant)
• crosstown-routines: Full Crosstown routines (away, welcome home, goodnight) that include Roomba start/dock alongside lights, thermostats, and audio
• dog-walk: Automated dog walk detection auto-starts/docks Roombas at Crosstown via Fi GPS departure
• presence: Check if anyone is home at Crosstown before starting Roombas
• Vacancy automation (com.openclaw.vacancy-actions LaunchAgent) also starts Roombas when Crosstown becomes confirmed_vacant — this is independent of the dog walk system

Troubleshooting

"Connection refused" or SSH timeout

MacBook Pro at Crosstown must be reachable via Tailscale:

ssh dylans-macbook-pro "echo ok"

"Robot did not respond within 20s"

• Robot may be off WiFi or powered down
• Check WiFi: crosstown-roomba wifi <name>
• Ensure robot is on the 192.168.165.x network

Action returns JSON with "ok": false

• Read the failed robot's error.code, error.message, and last observed phase
• With target all, inspect both entries; one robot may have succeeded
• Do not immediately retry dock if pre_dock_stop_failed or pre_dock_stop_verification_failed is reported; check status first

Command takes too long

Each command needs ~5-10s for SSH + MQTT handshake. This is normal for the connect-per-request architecture.