Oomwoo: The Open-Source Robot Vacuum You Can 3D Print Yourself — No Cloud, All Local

Short answer: Oomwoo is a fully open-source, build-it-yourself robot vacuum launched in June 2026 by Makers Pet founder Ilia O. It runs on a Raspberry Pi 5 with ROS 2 navigation, a 2D LiDAR sensor, and a 3D-printed chassis — and it costs roughly $200–350 in parts. There is no cloud dependency, no camera, and nothing phones home.

How I verified this: I cloned the makerspet/oomwoo GitHub repository (2,348 stars, Apache 2.0 license) and reviewed the module architecture, README, and v0 milestone tracker. I also cross-referenced the launch blog post on makerspet.com, the Tom’s Hardware and 3DPrinting.com coverage, and the DEF CON 32 Ecovacs security research papers to validate the privacy claims. The parts BOM pricing was sourced directly from the official sourcing guide and current AliExpress listings.

What Is Oomwoo?

Announced on June 14, 2026, Oomwoo is an open-source robot vacuum designed from the ground up to be built, modified, and repaired by anyone with a 3D printer and basic electronics skills. Its name is a rotational ambigram — it reads the same when flipped 180°, like the robot roaming your floor in every direction.

The project is the brainchild of Ilia Ovsiannikov , founder of Makers Pet, a company that sells educational robotics kits and parts. Sponsored by Makers Pet and Remake AI (a robot apps platform), Oomwoo hit #1 on Hacker News within days of its announcement and has already attracted coverage from Tom’s Hardware, 3DPrinting.com, and Galaxus.ch.

Oomwoo overview — a 3D-printed, open-source robot vacuum running on Raspberry Pi and ROS 2. Source: GitHub Awesome / YouTube

The Privacy Elephant in the Room

This is where Oomwoo’s story gets interesting — and timely. Over the past two years, the smart vacuum industry has faced a crisis of trust :

At DEF CON 32 (August 2024), researchers Dennis Giese and Braelynn Luedtke demonstrated that Ecovacs DEEBOT vacuums could be hijacked over Bluetooth to access cameras and microphones. Some DEEBOT X2 units were hijacked in real homes — with reports of vacuums shouting slurs and chasing pets.
A DJI Romo authentication flaw let a single user access roughly 6,700 vacuums worldwide, exposing floor plans and live video feeds.
In a particularly alarming incident, a manufacturer issued a remote kill command to brick a user’s vacuum after the owner blocked it from collecting data. The owner revived it with custom hardware and Python — but most people can’t do that.

Oomwoo sidesteps every one of these problems by design. No camera. Only LiDAR and bumper sensors. No cloud dependency. If you never connect it to the internet, it still vacuums your floors perfectly. Every line of code is open-source under Apache 2.0, so the community audits exactly what data it collects — which is basically nothing.

The DEF CON 32 talk that exposed how mainstream robot vacuums can be hijacked — and why Oomwoo’s camera-free, cloud-free design matters. Source: DEFCONConference / YouTube

What You’ll Need to Build One

Oomwoo is still in its design/RFC stage — the first full BOM (bill of materials) is expected in mid-July 2026. But the architecture is already clear, and the project is designed so every part can be sourced independently , mostly from AliExpress:

Component	Detail	Estimated Cost
Brain	Raspberry Pi 5 (4GB min; Pi 4 also works)	$60-80
Navigation	ROS 2 / Nav2 stack — SLAM mapping, AMCL localization	Free (open-source)
LiDAR	Affordable 2D LiDAR sensor (AliExpress)	$20-40
Motor Control	ESP32 running micro-ROS	$5-10
Chassis	Fully 3D-printed (PLA/PETG/TPU) — bumper, enclosure, dust bin, fan housing	$15-30 (filament)
Wheels	Roborock S5 Max drive wheels + iRobot Roomba casters	$27-38
Suction	BLDC suction fan (AliExpress)	$10-30
Smart Home	Native Home Assistant integration	Free

Total (parts only): ~$100-200 if you already own a Raspberry Pi. Total with Pi 5: ~$250-350 — significantly less than a premium Roomba or Roborock.

How It Compares to Commercial Vacuums

Let’s be honest: Oomwoo won’t match a $1,200 Roborock S8 MaxV on raw cleaning performance — yet. The project is in its infancy. The v0 milestone list includes 3D-printed chassis, ROS 2 Gazebo simulation, LiDAR with manual SLAM, and getting ROS 2 running on the Raspberry Pi 5.

What it does offer that commercial vacuums can’t touch:

Total repairability — Break a wheel? Print a new one. Fan dies? Buy a $15 replacement off AliExpress. No proprietary parts, no planned obsolescence.
No data collection — Your floor plan, your schedule, and your home’s layout never leave your network.
Modular upgrades — Want a better LiDAR? Upgrade the sensor. Want a bigger battery? Add one. The hardware is yours.
Full Home Assistant integration — Works locally with your existing smart home setup, no internet required.

In spirit, Oomwoo is the vacuum equivalent of Skylight — another Raspberry Pi project we covered on TekMag that proves open-source hardware can deliver experiences that closed ecosystems simply won’t allow.

The ROS 2 Advantage

What makes Oomwoo genuinely different from most DIY robot projects is its choice of navigation stack. Rather than reinventing the wheel, it uses ROS 2 (Robot Operating System 2) with the Nav2 framework — the same software stack used by autonomous robots in warehouses, hospitals, and research labs worldwide.

This means Oomwoo gets SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping), AMCL (Adaptive Monte Carlo Localization), path planning, and obstacle avoidance out of the box, all battle-tested by thousands of real-world robots. It’s a far cry from the random-bounce navigation of cheap robot vacuums.

Should You Build One?

Oomwoo is not ready for non-technical users yet. There are no step-by-step build instructions (the first BOM is due mid-July), and you’ll need a 3D printer, basic soldering skills, and comfort with Linux command line. But if you’re a maker, a robotics enthusiast, or someone who values digital sovereignty, this is a project to watch — and contribute to.

The project is split into self-contained modules so the community can build them in parallel. If you know ROS 2, you can start contributing to the Nav2 integration today. If you’re a 3D printing enthusiast, the STEP files for the chassis are already available.

My take: Oomwoo matters less as a vacuum cleaner and more as a proof point. It belongs to the same open-source home appliance movement as LibrePods and Dotient — projects that prove you don’t need a cloud subscription or corporate surveillance to have great technology. If the community rallies behind it the way it rallied behind Open Mower (the open-source lawn mower), we could see a real shift in how people think about the appliances in their homes.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much does Oomwoo cost to build?

Around $200-350 total, depending on whether you already own a Raspberry Pi. Parts alone (excluding the Pi) run about $100-200, sourced primarily from AliExpress. A convenience kit from Makers Pet is planned but never required.

Does Oomwoo have a camera?

No. Oomwoo is designed with privacy as a core requirement, so it uses only a 2D LiDAR sensor and bumper switches for navigation. No camera means no risk of hacked live feeds, no floor plan uploads, and no way for the vacuum to spy on you. If you never connect it to the internet, it still works perfectly.

Can Oomwoo compete with a Roomba?

Not yet — and that’s okay. Oomwoo is in its design/RFC stage with no completed build instructions as of early July 2026. Its v0 milestones focus on getting ROS 2 navigation and basic cleaning working on the 3D-printed chassis. Think of it as a compelling proof of concept and a platform for community development, not a Roomba replacement — yet.