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AutonomyLab/create_robot

ROS driver for iRobot Create 1 and 2.

227 starsC++Updated 1y agoBSD-3-Clause license
createdriverhacktoberfestirobotros
Install
$ git clone https://github.com/AutonomyLab/create_robot.git# then ask your coding agent> Set up create_robot for "Turn a Roomba or iRobot Create into a ROS robot"  on my iRobot Create 2. Follow the README.
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Turn a Roomba or iRobot Create into a ROS robot

Vacuum, Medium

The create_robot ROS driver talks iRobot's Open Interface over USB, so a Create 1/2 or compatible Roomba becomes a cheap differential-drive ROS platform.

View build on GitHub ↗Share on X

Plug a USB-serial cable into the Roomba, add a Raspberry Pi and camera or lidar, and you get odometry, bumpers, and cmd_vel driving in ROS. A classic budget base for Nav2 experiments.

Hardware & cost: Create 2 or used Roomba 600-series, USB-serial cable, Raspberry Pi.

Difficulty: Medium.

Agent install prompt (paste into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex): "Build https://github.com/AutonomyLab/create_robot in a ROS workspace on my Pi, launch the driver for my model, and drive it with teleop_twist_keyboard."

Source: AutonomyLab/create_robot on GitHub — https://github.com/AutonomyLab/create_robot (facts checked against the project README, Oct 2026; prices vary by region).

Quick answers

What do you need to turn a Roomba or iRobot Create into a ROS robot?
Create 2 or used Roomba 600-series, USB-serial cable, Raspberry Pi.
How hard is it to turn a Roomba or iRobot Create into a ROS robot?
Medium.

How your agent drives it

Copied from the AutonomyLab/create_robot README

  1. Shell
    $ git clone https://github.com/autonomylab/create_robot.git
  2. Shell
    $ colcon build
  3. Shell
    $ ros2 launch create_bringup create_2.launch

Any coding agent that can run a shell can run these. Read the README before you run anything on a robot that moves.

Ideas to try with it

Our ideas, not the builder's claims.

  1. Turn a thrift-store Roomba into your first ROS 2 robot
  2. Drive it with teleop_twist_keyboard around the living room
  3. Mount a Raspberry Pi and a cheap LiDAR on top and map the apartment
1 more idea
  1. Use it as the base for a camera patrol robot
Source
AutonomyLab/create_robot on GitHub
Last commit
2025-04-13
Builder
AutonomyLab
Repo
AutonomyLab/create_robot, 227 stars
Built with
iRobot Create 2, iRobot Roomba

Roomba hacks, 2 builds: Bring an old Roomba into Home Assistant with a $5 ESP8266 · Turn a Roomba or iRobot Create into a ROS robot

What to build next

Builds that share a board, robot or agent with this one.