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Home Assistant is open source home automation that puts local control and privacy first. Powered by a worldwide community of tinkerers and DIY enthusiasts. Perfect to run on a Raspberry Pi or a local server. Available for free at home-assistant.io

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Robot vaccums: Manufacturers and models that protect users' privacy? (sh.itjust.works)

submitted 10 months ago by [email protected] to c/homeassistant

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Cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/4295133

My partner and I are getting a cat and consider getting a robot vacuum cleaner for our apartment to help keep it clean. Up until now, I've been against getting one due to privacy concerns and negative reports about certain manufacturers (e.g., iRobot/Roomba). Now I'm reevaluating, because my partner is sensitive to dust, and regular vacuuming will be a must.

Does anyone have any experience or recommendations about manufacturers or models with a light privacy footprint or good reputation on that front?

I am aware that most robots that actually work will also gather data, and newer models even incorporate photo/video to improve pattern recognition performance. Still, I would be more comfortable with one that does that within reason (e.g., collects as little data as possible, transfers as little as possible to remote servers, encrypts data for transfer and storage).

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[–] [email protected] 27 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (3 children)

I've got a D9 running with Valetudo! It's fantastic! Not only am I not worried about privacy concerns, but it works with my HA seamlessly. Check out their list of supported vacuums.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago

I second Valetudo. I’m using it on a roborock S5 and installation was pretty straight forward. Even if it takes more effort to „root“ your vacuum it is definitely worth it. I also integrate my vacuum in HA over mqtt.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 10 months ago

It's absurd how much better it makes the vacuums to use. Interaction through the Web UI is just instant, instead of having to bounce to servers halfway around the world before acting on it. It's the primary decider of which vacuum I consider now.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

Thirding Valetudo, it's amazing. I even swapped out the default voice files with ones I wrote, then ran the new text through a GLaDOS voice generator.

[–] keyez 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

I haven't dug into their policies or checked network traffic but I have a b0bsweep per hair slam and while I don't believe it works with HA it maps my main floor and I was able to block it from public egress and put it on my subnet with DNS capture and filtering to a pihole and it has never once complained. Open the app and change a setting or click go and it does it. Haven't tried adding it to HA yet because of that.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 months ago

the hookup on YouTube has a lot of videos on these and he generally prefers local control devices so he will call out devices that work fully local etc.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

I'm looking at the Dreametech L10s Ultra, which got a very good review here and which is supported by Valetudo. I really want a local-only product, but I reviewed the rooting instructions on Valtudo's site and I don't think I can do it. I'd need to solder my own PCB which I've never done, and the section of the actual software rooting that gives me 160 seconds to do a bunch of stuff right the first time or I risk bricking my $1000 device, is very scary. :(