My lawnbott odyssey -- a little story and a couple observations

[Tigersoul]

Howdy, I'm Craig.  Nice to find a community focused around our beloved bots.  Mine's named Pablo Arigato, by the way.

 

So waaaaaay back in June of 2008, I took the brunt of some inheritance dough from my Grandmother's passing and decided to buy a Lawnbott 2100X (I believe this is the "professional" model?).  I opted for some minor upgrades -- a lithium battery and I believe some bigger/knobbier wheels.

Got the robot, set it up, and it wouldn't go more than a few feet without turning off.  It was kind of a tough time in my life and I decided to chalk the ill-fated purchase up to some rotten luck, tucking it away into the garage to be untouched for years.

Fast forward to life now, different job, different location, wife and a kid...figured I'd give it another swing.  This time, the unit wouldn't even power on.  Reached out to the original vendor and did some troubleshooting, also brought up the mainboard recall I had read about.  Ordered a new lithium battery and got the updated mainboard, dropped em in, and voila, Pablo was alive!

Those of you with more recent manuals also have the benefit of better translated instructions.  Gotta tell ya, that manual on the ol' 2100 was preeetty rough in the English section!  But after some careful reading and experimentation, I've gotten a basic hang of things.  I'm still trying to comprehend where the best placement for a rapid return point is along with a couple general questions.  Living in Long Island, theft is a huge concern for me, so I only operate the mower in manual mode when we're out in the yard weeding and gardening so I can keep an eye on him.  Turns out the original battery was fine, and he now mows for quite a long time with both batteries installed.

So that's my story and I'm sticking to it!  A couple of questions I'll ask off the bat:

• Since we're using the mower only in manual mode, I'm going to guess that creating rapid return triangles is pointless, correct? 
• Does the mower hug the yard's edges at any time during a manual mow other than when it's trying to return to the charging base due to low power?
• Anyone know if the 2100 (or 2100X, as it's listed on my receipt) have an alarm installed?  I've tried putting a passcode onto the mower, but it doesn't seem to keep it.

Thanks for having me,

Craig

[toolbelt]

Hi Craig,
Toolbelt here, I got my bot in the Winter of 2007 and worried my self sick wondering if I had made a BIG mistake.  Everyday since then I count my lucky stars that I made the right choice.  Junior does a great job (he's out mowing as I type) and has for all of these years.

Q-1 Yes
Q-2 It only hugs going out for the secondary areas and coming back from all areas.
Q-3 When it's running try picking it up to test for an alarm.  Passwords have to be entered every time you restart. Try entering a different password when it requests the password.  It shouldn't run with the wrong password.

I own a 3200 so I'm guessing how yours should behave....

Welcome aboard.  Not many people are active here now days but I think you will get your questions answered.

toolbelt

[Tigersoul]

Thanks, brother.  As long as I'm not talking to myself, I'm not crazy, right?

Yesterday, Pablo stopped working with a no signal error.  I examined where I'd done splices and found no breaks, but a large majority of the old original wiring I'd used was in less-than-stellar shape.  So I'll likely go out and get a huge reel of wire to outline the entire yard with no breaks/splices whatsoever.  Shouldn't need a signal booster, as it was mowing without problems for 3-4 mows.  Just ordered a wire break sensor from Paradise to boot.

No alarm on Pablo.  I'm not sure I understand the point of a pass code if someone can just get around it by turning the mower off and on.  Maybe the buffer battery was not fully charged when I first set it up.

I do have a perimeter wire question.  The documentation is a bit unclear on setting a path going from one area to another.  Am I right in grasping that you have to run two parallel wires set 1cm apart for your mower to see it as a "path" and follow it to another zone?

[toolbelt]

Welllll, some people would say we are crazy but then they don't have a bott.....We do name them..... lol

Robotlady sells wire that should last a long time so check out what she has to offer.

If you had selected 'No' password during the setup then it doesn't check for one and just starts up.  So yes, someone can turn it off and back on and it will mow.
If you selected 'Yes' and entered a password then it asks for the password to be entered each time you press Start.  It displays four zero character after the request and waits for you to enter your password.  You enter a digit you use the Plus/Minus key followed by the Enter key.  You do this for each character.

Going to an area is controlled by the time it takes to get there. 

After each start up that you cause by pressing the start button it mows the primary area.  If your bot has 4 areas, it would be primary, 1st secondary, 2nd secondary, and then 3rd secondary.  You enter the time it takes to get to a secondary area at setup.  After mowing the primary area it will auto start up when it's time to mow, back out, turn and find the wire in front of the charger, follow it for the time you set, then stop, turn and begin mowing.

If you hand carry you bot to an area the bot will have been turned off, thus at start up it thinks it's mowing the primary area.

To protect flower beds you run the wire out to them, go around the beds (12 inches of so away from the edge of course) then back to the perimeter wire.  The going to and returning wires are right next to each other (touching is okay).  Since the signal will be going in different directions it cancels it self out along that section of the wire.  Thus the bot can run right over top of it with detecting it.  Think of a tree as just another flower bed that is small. 

One of the wiring schemes we use is called a boot.  Again, nothing more than a flower bed.  The 1 cm apart 'going to' and 'coming from' wires are only about 3-4 inches in length before they branch out to 12 inches apart to form the leg part of the boot.  At the end of the boot (the foot/toe area) the wire turns to form the toe for about 6-8 inches, then makes a sharp turn back to the heel, then on toward the top where it is turns to form the 'coming from' wire. 

Why would you want that setup in your yard?  When it's time for the bot to go back and it hits a flowerbed wire it will go around and around for about 3 or more loops then stop, turn and go off to find the perimeter wire.  However, with the toe wire when it tries to make that sharp turn back to the heel it overshoots and goes over the perimeter wire.  It detects the perimeter, turns to the right and follows it back to the charger..... just what you wanted it to do, right?    Let me know if you would like a drawing of what I've tried to describe.  Do a search and you should find a drawing here on this forum.

And to answer you question, NO it doesn't follow the 1cm apart wires to another zone.... see above.

toolbelt

[RobotLady]

Hi Craig!

Thanks for purchasing the wire break finder from us.  Nice name for your LawnBott - most unique I've heard so far... 

By the way, check the LEDs on the transmitter because if it is glowing solid green, for sure the wire is cut or not inserted properly in the terminals.  Normal is some number of green flashes followed by some number of red flashes.  Unless you have the newer transmitter, then it's a bit different (yellow when starting up, red when in the base, green when cut and flashing when mowing).

Do purchase additional wire from us.  Many customers make the mistake of getting the wrong wire and then they have lots of problems getting their robot to work right.  We are now offering free outdoor wire connectors with each wire spool purchased from us.  They are special, excellent connectors, that cannot be found in stores.

Also, I would like to recommend our installation guide.  It will help you understand the best way to install the robot and have it navigate to the zones.  However, it sounds like you might be doing everything but the back yard manually, so I am not sure if you have a use for the zone feature.  Nevertheless, if you read our manual, you will learn everything you need to know for the best possible installation.

Here is the link:

http://www.paradiserobotics.com/lawnbottrobotmowers/roboticmowerinstallationguide.htm

I think you will find the forum helpful.  The reason it is less active now is 1) most people are happy, so no reason to post & 2) there are more customers purchasing installations from dealers now, rather than doing it themselves.

Thanks much to Toolbelt for his regular participation & kind words!!!

RobotLady

[Tigersoul]

Well, the wire break finder worked like a charm.  Found a splice that had pulled apart even though it was nowhere near where the mower had been working.  Ordered more perimeter wire and the guide anyway.  I figure a mix of indoor wire and 8-year old lawnbott wire with various sleeve cracks is only gonna last so long.

I'm planning to bury the new wire.  Any of you had issues with that?  I know not to place is more than 3cm down.

I think a lot of this process boils down to watching your mower and seeing how it works.  I'd originally laid the wire in a way that ignored a medium tree and a stair landing.  Now I think I'll wore around each just to get better coverage.  One thing that has me stumped is I have a strip of yard between the curb and my side fence that's roughly 4-6 feet wide and goes back probably 40-50 feet.  Pablo has a *real* bad time getting stuck in this area and never making his way back out.  Not sure how to address that just yet.

[toolbelt]

When you repaired the break was the wire sitting on top of the grass, like it was when you first installed it?  Nope, it was down quite a ways, right?  So why go to all of that trouble of burying the wire when it's going to get down there anyhow???   lol  BTW, 2.54 cm make up 1 inch so you are talking about only 1 and a 1/4 inches at the most if you only put it down 3 cm.  Not worth it in my opinion.

I also have a strip of grass between my garage and neighbor's fence that is about 6 feet wide.  I just get out the mower and zap it's finished.  Sometimes I use the grass trimmer.  Your bott is going through enough stops/turns/backups without being faced with the number required to mow that section.

In my other posting about the 'Boot' I forgot to mention that the 'sole' of the boot should be within 3-4 inches of the outer perimeter wire so the turn back causes the bott to contact the perimeter wire.

At one time we had a ton of folks on the forum so every little hiccup was reported.  That's how we learned the process.  Those days are not here so you will either have to ask or like you say, watch and see how it works.

[Tigersoul]

When you repaired the break was the wire sitting on top of the grass, like it was when you first installed it?  Nope, it was down quite a ways, right?  So why go to all of that trouble of burying the wire when it's going to get down there anyhow???   lol  BTW, 2.54 cm make up 1 inch so you are talking about only 1 and a 1/4 inches at the most if you only put it down 3 cm.  Not worth it in my opinion.

Hmm, for me it was still pretty clearly on top of the grass.  I'd love for it to work its way down some.  The lazy part of me likes your advice, but I've got a couple of concerns -- mainly neighborhood kids who lazily cut across my corner lot on a regular basis (shoe snagging on a perimeter wire and pulling it) and the exposure to elements.  Living in NY, part of me thinks that burying it would provide a bit more protection against the snow, rain, and sun.  I've also had the wire somehow manage to get tangled in one of the wheels in the back yard once.  I'll probably defer to your wisdom and my laziness and just run it as-is for a while.

I also have a strip of grass between my garage and neighbor's fence that is about 6 feet wide.  I just get out the mower and zap it's finished.  Sometimes I use the grass trimmer.  Your bott is going through enough stops/turns/backups without being faced with the number required to mow that section.

So I'm curious -- did you even bother to run perimeter wire around that, or did you just leave it "off the grid?"  To my amusement and consternation, I started making a video of Pablo's problems mowing that section and I'll be damned if he didn't make his way out fairly quickly.  Now either that's murphy's law or maybe there's some learning logic in the programming.  I'm leaning more towards the former possibility, but maybe you or Robotlady can comment on the latter.

In my other posting about the 'Boot' I forgot to mention that the 'sole' of the boot should be within 3-4 inches of the outer perimeter wire so the turn back causes the bott to contact the perimeter wire.

The primary benefit of the boot is for quicker return to charging station, right?  Since I only operate the mower in manual mode (theft concerns in Long Island), I'm not sure if there's any upside to creating one for me.

At one time we had a ton of folks on the forum so every little hiccup was reported.  That's how we learned the process.  Those days are not here so you will either have to ask or like you say, watch and see how it works.

I don't mind being Tom Hanks in Castaway.  Should I call you "Wilson?"   In all seriousness, I'm not deterred.  Such a great experience so far and I still get a kick out of envious neighbors and folks driving along gawking and asking about it.

Still waiting on the perimeter wire I ordered to arrive, but the remote and daughterboard arrived yesterday.  Should be interesting dropping those in.  One of the wires was a real pain to get plugged from the old mainboard into the new one when I did the recall swap.

[toolbelt]

Maybe the reason my wire is down deep is that we have sandy soil and Bermuda grass in this area. 

I left the 6 ft wide strip off the grid from the get go.  You could always give it a try and if it doesn't work then rewire it out.

Yes, the primary benefit of the boot is for quick returns.

Yes, it is a great experience.  We never tire of watching Jr mow the grass.  In a review I once did I talked about the time he decided it was time to return to the charger and found the wire that went around a flower bed.  Around and around he went.  We panicked, I ran over and moved him so he could find the perimeter wire.  About a month later he did the same thing while we were watching him from the front porch swing.  By the time I got down to free him up he had already decided that he was going around in a circle.  He sort of stopped then turned and headed off towards the perimeter wire.  I in the mean time stood there looking at him, then towards my wife, with my mouth hanging open.  Darn but this little guy isn't smarter than a whip!!!!

Do me a favor.  Come back with a quick answer so your name appears on the Last post instead of mine.  I want other folks to read the postings and if my handle is always up there they may miss out.

Oh, almost forgot…..don’t call me Wilson…. :-)))))

One thing you may want to look into is the GPS unit that is available for these little guys.  If it’s stolen you have the manufacture call it and it sends it’s GPS location.  Something like On-Star.  Don’t know what it costs, won’t be cheap for sure, but it would allow you to run him unattended.  Since you have an older model it may not fit.  I can’t remember where I heard about it so take all of this with a grain of salt.  Robotlady may know.

[RobotLady]

Hi Craig & Toolbelt,

Just catching up on the discussion this morning; sorry for the delay.  It's been nutty around here the last two weeks.

I will chime in on two topics - the 6 foot strip & GPS.

LawnBott for sure can mow the 6 foot strip, however, the LB2100 probably needs to have it wired off as a separate zone.  The older mowers tend to make a lot of right turns and it can work itself out of the strip before it finishes.  That would definitely be a pain if you are out there keeping an eye on it.

Yes! GPS is available for the older robot mowers.  GPS is for theft-recovery and is sold as an option for customers in higher crime areas.   And it's better than before.  You can still get Pay as you Go activation, but, you can now purchase activation and service from us that includes a GeoFence.  The GeoFence sends a text anytime the robot leaves your property!  You can be notified by text and/or email, as many phone numbers and addresses as you like.  You can even put us on there!

Some of our customers who purchased Pay As You Go have gotten a surprise when they discover the module had not been working.  We do advise if you purchase Pay as You Go GPS for your LawnBott, that you periodically purchase locates to verify the module is still working.

The GeoFence option includes some number of locates, so there is no additional cost for periodic checking on the module.

For the benefit of others reading this thread, the module will probably work with other robot mower brands as well, USA only though.  It uses cellular technology and compatibility varies world-wide.

Cheers,

RobotLady

[Tigersoul]

The summer marches on!

Couple updates...I've had a couple of lost signal errors -- always spots where the splices are coming loose.  Haven't invested a lot of effort in doing a major repair on them with the new wire on the way, but I'm glad I got the signal break finder.  Just wish it had louder external volume (haven't tried the headphone jack yet.)

Pablo has started handling the 6-8 foot wide patch more effectively, exiting without trouble now.  My best theory is because I started taking videos when he'd enter to post on here and he wants to make me look like an idiot.  May just leave it wired as-is, though I still have to do a fair bit of manual mowing there with the remote to get it handled well.

Speaking of the remote, which I recently installed since my old 2100 didn't come from it with the factory...how do I say this while still being nice?  Maybe "ouch?"  Not sure who thought it'd be a good idea to have a remote with no forwards or backwards buttons and the response time is less than stellar.  I found the hard way that mowing the borders of the yard was a risky enterprise using the remote.  Went off the curb and scraped the blade on the concrete about three times.  I got better at it, but it's still something I'm going to avoid going forward.  Seems the better option is to just plant it close to the edge and press the charge button so it'll ride back straddling the wire, then stop it once it's done.  Still helps me finish the yard quicker by addressing small missed patches manually instead of waiting for the chaos mowing system to find them.   A boon when he's mowing only when I'm outside keeping an eye on things.

Interesting that there's a GPS option; I would not have expected it since I was an "early adopter." From the way you're describing it, however, it sounds like there's a monthly monitoring fee?  Not sure I'd want to go that route. 

[toolbelt]

Years ago all of us here on the forum went round and round about what was the best method to make a splice in the wire.  I solder my splices, cover the connection with a stuff I call ‘liquid rubber’, and finally wrap the splice with electrical tape.  Haven’t had one come apart.

My remote  quit working one day so I got a stick, taped a piece of strong wire to the end of it to form a hook.  I use the hook to lift the back end of Junior up when I want him to go in a different direction.  I just slip the hook under the handle, lift, swing him around, and release.  Very easy to steer him that way.  I also use the stick and his bump sensor to cause him to turn.  I just jab it into the ground and let him bump into it.

The folks who build these bots need to add more computer memory or hire a better programmer.  Case in point, why can’t we set a different mowing time limit for each area instead of having one limit for all areas.

I’ve got to agree with you about the GPS fees.  Years ago the auto industry charged you for a cigarette lighter.  The Japanese took one look at that and said…hmmm maybe we not charge.  Guess who sells the most cars here in the states….. hmmm

[RobotLady]

Hey Guys,

We now offer these awesome outdoor wire connectors on our site.  There is no better way to splice the wires!  Here's the link:

http://www.paradiserobotics.com/lawnbottrobotmowers/lawnbott500ftwire.htm

Also, just FYI, the remote for the newest models is a smart phone and it works great!  It has excellent response time and the app is super easy to use.  It's really fun to drive the robot...

As for GPS, service with GeoFence is optional.  You can also just purchase the module and use Pay as you Go locating.  The down side is no instant notification if your robot disappears.  Also, some customers have forgotten to check on the GPS module and it went obsolete and then was no longer working.  With service, you'll know your robot is protected because it is easy to check the module just by carrying it off the property (you'll get a text).

Hope this helps!

RobotLady