Scenario: You haven’t vacuumed your living room in weeks and suddenly friends or family are coming over. You’re pushing the clock at work and know you won’t have time to clean before they get there. If you happen to have a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner, you might be saved.
You can connect your Roomba to your Amazon Echo ($100 at Amazon), and trigger Alexa to get the Roomba to start vacuuming. Just make sure your Roomba is connected to WiFi so you can access it remotely. Keep in mind that this is a remote command that asks your Amazon Echo device to be the conduit, so your command will sound like, “Alexa, ask Roomba to vacuum the house.”
Connect your Roomba to Wifi
1. Download the iRobot Home app and create a username and password.
2. Hook your Home Base charging station from Roomba into the wall and turn your Roomba on.
3. In the Roomba app, tap your WiFi network and enter the password.
4. While your Roomba is on the Home Base, press and hold both the home and spot clean icons until the Roomba starts flashing a green WiFi icon.
5. If you’re using an iPhone ($1,000 at Amazon), go to your WiFi settings and select the Roomba network. Android users — Roomba will automatically begin setting up your network.
Connect your Roomba to your Echo to vacuum remotely.
CNET Staff
Connect your Amazon Echo to your Roomba
1. Once the Roomba is connected to WiFi, open the Amazon Alexa app on your phone and tap the three stacked lines at the top.
2. Tap Skills & Games.
3. Tap the search icon and type iRobot Home (tap it when it appears).
4. Tap Enable to use.
5. You will be prompted to log into your iRobot account to finish connecting your Echo and Roomba.
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Roomba commands you can say
If you’re out of the house, open the Amazon Alexa app and press the circle icon to give commands to Alexa.
Tap the blue circle to give Alexa commands.
Screenshot by Ry Crist/CNET
Start Roomba
“Alexa, ask Roomba to start cleaning.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba to give my cat a ride.”
Stop Roomba
“Alexa, ask Roomba to stop cleaning.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba to call it a night.”
Pause Roomba
“Alexa, ask Roomba to pause cleaning.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba to play dead.”
Locate Roomba
“Alexa, ask Roomba where it is.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba to stop hiding from me.”
Roomba Status
“Alexa, ask Roomba how my cleaning buddy is.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba what it’s doing.”
Send Roomba back to Home Base
“Alexa, ask Roomba to go home.”
“Alexa, ask Roomba to get some beauty rest.”
$99
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