An-Najah National University 

Faculty of Engineering 

Computer Engineering Department 

 

ROMO (The robotic mop) 

 

Prepared By: 

Sura Ibrahim Mohammad Khlouf 

Rand Ma’an Yousef Al-Khader 
 

Prepared For: 

Hardware Graduation Project 

Supervisor: Dr. Sufyan Samarah.  

13th August, 2022 



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Table of Contents 
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 4 

Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 

Literature Review ............................................................................................................................ 6 

Methodology ................................................................................................................................... 7 

Hardware ..................................................................................................................................... 7 

Software .................................................................................................................................... 13 

Results and Discussion .................................................................................................................. 14 

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 18 

Reference List ................................................................................................................................ 19 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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List of Figures 
Figure 1: cart .................................................................................................................................... 7 

Figure 2: Bluetooth switches application ........................................................................................ 8 

Figure 3: Wheels .............................................................................................................................. 8 

Figure 4: H-Bridge ............................................................................................................................ 8 

Figure 5: DC motor .......................................................................................................................... 9 

Figure 6: Arduino UNO .................................................................................................................... 9 

Figure 7: Arduino Nano ................................................................................................................. 10 

Figure 8: HC-05 Bluetooth ............................................................................................................. 10 

Figure 9: Ultrasonic ....................................................................................................................... 10 

Figure 10: Servo motor .................................................................................................................. 10 

Figure 11: pump ............................................................................................................................ 11 

Figure 12: Relay ............................................................................................................................. 11 

Figure 13: Ultraviolet ..................................................................................................................... 12 

Figure 14: Power bank ................................................................................................................... 12 

Figure 15: Manual control circuit .................................................................................................. 14 

Figure 16: ILQ55............................................................................................................................. 15 

Figure 17: connection (1) .............................................................................................................. 15 

Figure 18: Approximated connection ............................................................................................ 16 

Figure 19: Connection (2) .............................................................................................................. 16 

Figure 20: Connection (3) .............................................................................................................. 17 

Figure 21: pump ............................................................................................................................ 17 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



4 
 

Abstract  
 

The world is observing great technological developments, especially in the 

field of industries. Robots are one of the important industries due to their 

benefits in serving humans and saving time and effort. 

In this project, we will make a special floor cleaning robot (ROMO), the user 

can control its movement and pump water. Also he can make the robot 

work automatically, so the robot senses obstacles and pumps water every 

certain period of time, bearing in mind that the water does not collect in 

one place. To ensure the sterilization process, a sensor was added to see 

bacteria by ultraviolet rays, which is important to protect against diseases, 

especially in the case of children at home. Therefore, Romo can help the 

housewife, especially if she is an employee, and guarantees her 

sterilization, hygiene and speed. 

The user can control the robot's movement and water pumping, or make it 

work automatically through the mobile phone. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 



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Introduction 

 

Robots can work at any time of day or night. They don't require vacations 

or health insurance. It also saves effort and time, as human efforts alone 

are no longer sufficient to keep pace with the rapid improvement in 

technological progress. A trend towards robotics solutions has emerged in 

the current century, exploiting the development of technology and 

communications in all walks of life.  

Robotics has already begun to permeate everything in the world, from the 

smallest systems that a human eye cannot see, such as Nano-robotics that 

enter the human body, to the largest systems, such as planes without a 

pilot and space robots that have enabled humans to further explore the 

universe. Robots are not limited in size or location, and they have given 

birth to relatively new but extremely important concepts like Machine 

Learning and the Internet of Things. Robots will eventually take over 

millions of traditional jobs. They have already begun to do so, with 

automation becoming a major component in the field of robotics.  

Romo is a self-driving vacuum and one of the most popular consumer 

robots on the market. It cleans your floors by navigating around clutter and 

under furniture, and allows you to monitor the vacuum from your phone.  

It is equipped with sensors to sense obstacles. Pump for pumping water 

and ultraviolet rays for sterilization. Its importance lies in saving time and 

effort for housewives, especially employees.  

It employs "random" navigation. To ensure that your floor is completely 

covered. This means that once the robot has left its dock, it will begin 

vacuuming in one direction until it encounters an obstacle. Then it turns a 

random number of degrees away from itself and moves in that new 

direction. This procedure is repeated until your home is thoroughly 

cleaned. Although it may appear chaotic, this "drunken sailor" approach to 

vacuuming results in fairly thorough coverage of your living area. 



6 
 

Literature Review 

 

The general aim of robots and their continuous evolution is what was 

explored in [1]. This research concludes the importance of robotics in 

getting closer to human needs and solving technical problems is 

emphasized. According to another research [2], Human-robot interaction 

(HRI) is now well understood enough for us to create useful systems that 

can operate outside of the laboratory. 

Moreover, any robotics application needs a high level of intelligence in 

order to be successful, as Feigenbaum stated in his research, “Various 

systems that have achieved expert level performance in scientific and 

medical inference illuminate the art of knowledge engineering and its 

parent science, Artificial Intelligence.” [3].  

As mentioned on a research [4], cleaning robot has four generations as of 

2012: the first-generation original models, the second-generation 

"Discovery" series, the third-generation 500 series, and the fourth-

generation 600/700 series. To pick up debris from the floor, all use a pair of 

brushes that rotate in opposite directions. 

The definition of desired functions and the design of the ultimate versatile 

personal robot are still under discussion[5]. In the meantime, precursors to 

this yet-to-evolve species are well on their way to becoming commercial 

products. Cleaning robots for public spaces as well as private homes appear 

to be capable of providing the breakthrough that non-industrial robot 

system designers have long sought. 

The home provides challenges from both technical and interaction 

perspectives. In addition, the home is a seat for many specialized human 

behaviors and needs, and has a long history of what is collected and used to 

functionally, aesthetically, and symbolically fit the home. To understand the 

social impact of robotic technologies, a paper [6] presents an ethnographic 

study of consumer robots in the home. 

 



7 
 

Methodology 
 

Because of the importance of robotics in the modern world in general, and 

cleaning systems in particular, a strong, robust robotics structure is 

required to demonstrate the proposed system. This system should include 

important aspects such as hardware, software, and the surrounding 

environment. 

 

Hardware 

Firstly, the process starts with building the robots. In order to build an 

efficient and effective structure that minimizes the cost and at the same 

time acquires the best available materials that serve the needs and 

requirements of the system. 

Two-storey cart was used so that the water and the pump are placed in the 

basement and the electronic parts on the upper floor, to ensure the safety 

of the electronic parts as illustrated below: 

 

 

Figure 1: cart 

 

  

 



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The robot is controlled by mobile or automatic operation using Bluetooth 

technology by using Bluetooth switches application.  

 

Figure 2: Bluetooth switches application 

The hardware parts that were chosen to develop the robot include two 

wheels, two DC Motors and one H-Bridge Motor Drivers for the movement 

of the wheels. These are illustrated below: 

 
Figure 3: Wheels 

 
Figure 4: H-Bridge 

 

 



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Figure 5: DC motor 

It should be noted that 2 DC Motors were used in the robot in order to 

accurately steer the car in the four directions needed.  

Next, the two microcontrollers chosen for the robot were Arduino UNO and 

Arduino Nano. These were chosen because they provide a sufficient 

number of pins that accommodate the many number of inputs that are 

needed in our system.  

 

 

Figure 6: Arduino UNO 

 



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Figure 7: Arduino Nano 

 

Next, the parts needed for communication will be shown, which include 

HC-05 Bluetooth module that was used for controlling the robot.  

 

Figure 8: HC-05 Bluetooth 

In addition, Ultrasonic modules and a Servo Motor were used for obstacle 

detection in the robot. The Ultrasonic module is shown below: 

 

 
Figure 9: Ultrasonic 

 
 

Figure 10: Servo motor 

 



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The power coming from the Arduino UNO is not enough to operate the 

pump, as the Arduino UNO produces approximately 4-5 volts and 100 mA 

of current, while the pump needs at least 300 mA to 0.5 A. 

Therefore, the transistor was used so that the command to run the pump 

was taken from the Arduino Uno and it was connected to a regulator to 

provide the power consumed by the pump.  

 

 

Figure 11: pump 

 

Autoplay 

The command to start the autoplay is given from the Arduino Uno to the 

relay then to the Arduino Nano, and in order to avoid a conflict between 

the commands from the autoplay and the self-control, we connected the 

Arduino Nano and Uno to 4 diodes for each and then connected them with 

H-bridge to move the wheels. 

 

Figure 12: Relay 



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It is known that ultraviolet rays are used for sterilization, so we added it. 

 

Figure 13: Ultraviolet 
 

 

The power bank was used to operate the robot to reduce the weight 

because its size is small, in addition it’s easy to charge and preserves the 

environment.  

 

 

Figure 14: Power bank 

 



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To finalize the hardware section, it should be mentioned that the chosen 

parts were the best available, given the limited access to materials in 

Palestine. 

 

 

Software 
 

The software part will be discussed. This included the development of an 

Android mobile application for the Bluetooth control of the robot. 

Android Application 

The android application provided user control for the robot used in this 

system, by using Bluetooth switches application to connect to the address 

of the Bluetooth module situated on the robot, then guiding the needed 

movement according to the buttons available on the screen. 

We used Arduino IDEs for programming the microcontrollers. 

Code Flows: 

 

  

 

 

   

 

 

Start 

Set up 

Process the data out  

Bluetooth 

received the  

command 



14 
 

Results and Discussion 
 

In the final stage, we got a robot that wipes and sterilizes floors controlled 

via mobile application. 

 

Initially, we divided the project into steps. The first is for manual control of 

the robot. Below is a circuit showing manual control: 

 

 

Figure 15: Manual control circuit 

 

 

At this part we connected H-Bridge, Arduino Uno and HC-05 Bluetooth. 

 

 



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Figure 16: ILQ55 

After that we connected Arduino Nano, transistor, servo motor and 

Ultrasonic with H-bridge to start the automatically part. Below is a circuit 

showing our connection:  

 

 

Figure 17: connection (1) 

Motor1 

Motor2 



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Figure 18: Approximated connection 

Next, 8 Diodes used to avoid a conflict between the commands. As shown 

below:  

 

Figure 19: Connection (2) 

 



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Figure 20: Connection (3) 
 

 

Figure 21: pump 

 

 

Diodes 

Arduino 

Nano 

H-Bridge 

ILQ55 



18 
 

Conclusion 
 

In conclusion, Romo is a floor cleaning robot, and like other robots, its main 

goal is to save human time and effort. Ultraviolet rays have been added to 

the sterilization feature to be different from other previous projects.  

The microcontroller can easily be used to modify and enhance any bot's 

various capabilities, evolving its capabilities to explore new pathways of 

efficient working. In our work we learnt new things about hardware 

components also we learnt how to use Arduino and program it.  

Limitation 

We faced some limitations, such as the lack of time for the summer 

semester, and the hardware available in Palestine, which is imported at a 

low cost, is not completely reliable, resulting in numerous problems, also 

we wanted to use Raspberry Pi but couldn't find it in the market. 

Future work 

The significance of robot systems for human future is undeniable. As a 

result, the development of this system does not stop here, we hope to 

make the robort respond to voice commands and using camara to more 

accurately identify obstacles. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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Reference List 
 

1. Garcia, E., et al., The evolution of robotics research. IEEE Robotics & 

Automation Magazine, 2007. 14(1): p. 90-103. 

2. C. D. Kidd and C. Breazeal, "Robots at home: Understanding long-

term human-robot interaction," 2008 IEEE/RSJ International 

Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2008, pp. 3230-3235, 

doi: 10.1109/IROS.2008.4651113. 

3. Liu, B., et al., Controllability of a leader–follower dynamic network 

with switching topology. IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, 

2008. 53(4): p. 1009-1013. 

4. Building a Mobile Robot for a Floor-Cleaning Operation in Domestic 

Environment.  

5. H¨agele, M. 1994. Serviceroboter—ein Beitrag zur Innovation im 

Dienstleistungswesen. Technology Study, Fraunhofer Institute for 

Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, Stuttgart, 

Germany. 

6. J. Forlizzi, "How robotic products become social products: An 

ethnographic study of cleaning in the home," 2007 2nd ACM/IEEE 

International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), 2007, 

pp. 129-136, doi: 10.1145/1228716.1228734. 

7. [2] Jordi Palacín, Member, IEEE, José Antonio Salse, Ignasi Valgañón, 

and Xavi Clua, IEEE transactions on instrumentation and 

measurement, vol.53, no. 5, Spain 2004, pp. 1420-1423