Setting up your WifiOSMO

Congrats! You have a WifiOSMO, and your robot is free from its leash! Here are some instructions to get you connected and ready to go. The WifiOSMO is running a stock version of the ESP-LINK firmware.

First, if you are in Windows:

  1. Download and install HW Virtual Serial Port on your computer. The file is called hw-vsp-single-3-1-2.exe It is advisable to right click on it and run it as an administrator for the install. Go through all of the installation prompts and select finish. If asked allow the HW-VSP to communicate on all networks.

Or, if you are in Linux:

  1. Install socat (in Debian-derivatives, sudo apt install socat)

Initial Connection

Plug your WifiOSMO into your 500-800 series robot. The LED should turn on and blink a little. Give the module about 20 seconds to connect to the network. Depending on whether or not you are at iRobot, read the corresponding instructions.

  1. The WifiOSMO should automatically entered STA+AP mode. Look for the network it creates by default as ESP_******. Look at the sticker on your wi-fi module. This is the one you want.
  1. Connect to the access point and navigate to
  2. Click on the “Wifi Soft-AP” page in the left column, and verify that “WiFi mode” is “AP+STA.”

If it is not, click “Switch to AP+STA Mode” toward the bottom of the menu.

  1. Navigate back to the home page in the left column. Uncheck the RX pull-up box under the pin assignments section and click Change. Also, be sure that “Serial LED” is assigned to GPIO2/TX1 (or else the LED will not flash).

Creating a Virtual Serial Port - Windows

  1. Make sure you are still on your wi-fi module’s network. Load your HW Virtual Serial Port program and click the Login button. Accept the default password for now,admin

  1. On the Virtual Serial Port tab, select an unused Port Name (e.g. COM 3 as shown) for your virtual com port. Enter the IP address of your WifiOSMO 192.168.4.1 and Port 23 as shown below. Make sure the External NVT Commands box is unchecked.

  1. On the Settings tab, make sure the settings are selected as shown below.

  1. Go back to the Virtual Serial Port tab. Click the Create COM button. Wait while the program connects to the WifiOSMO. The Status under the VSP section will read Created and the Status under the LAN section will read Connected.

  1. Your serial connection is now ready to use. Try to connect using the command r= roomba(‘com3’)

Creating a Virtual Serial Port – Linux

  1. Open a terminal. Run the following command: “sudo socat pty,link=/dev/ttyH1 tcp:XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:23” where the “XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX” is replaced with the IP address of your device.
  2. Leave this terminal open and use the device /dev/ttyH1 as you would use another serial port for projects like Scratch.