Continued lawnbott woes

[rew2]

I'm beginning to hate this machine.  It finds every tiny dip in the lawn and gets stuck in them, when doing so it's cog wheels dig in deeper and deeper until the slight dip is an actual hole.  So I have been spending much of the past couple of weeks filling in every dip the bott finds with dirt.  I think this thing was tested on a pool table, it is helpless with an actual lawn.  Needless to say, these are dips I don't even notice when I'm mowing by hand.

When the bott gets stuck (as it does frequently) it has no intelligence about recognizing that it is stuck in a loop.  Instead it does the same back, turn, and forward, back, turn, and forward, over and over, making no progress (because it's slipping so the "turn step" doesn't actually turn) and digging deeper and deeper ruts into my lawn.

On one of the up slopes the bot managed to flip itself upside down.  (I'd like to see a bott designer do the obvious thing and put a level inside these machines, so they know what angle they're at -- a half way smart bott would switchback up and down steep slopes, mowing perpendicular to the direction of the slope,  instead of trying to do the spiral thing on them.)

In one section of my lawn where the lawn slopes down to the wire the bott likes to fly past the wire into some woods and then stop, complaining that its out of bounds of the wire.  I know the bott can detect the wire because when it is in perimeter following mode it follows along that part of the wire just fine.  The only fix for this was to put some concrete blocks about 14 inches past the wire.  Now when the bott flies across the wire it bumps into the blocks and then backs off, staying inside the perimeter. 

Last night a heard a loud thump, thump, thump, thump coming from outside.  Had my neighbor developed a taste for rap music?  Nope.  I went outside, and there was the bott, somehow stuck on the perfectly level front lawn.  I hit the STOP button and went inside.  This morning I took a look and tried to figure out how the bott got stuck, but I can't see how.  I carried it back to its charger and now I see that it thinks that it's raining, when it's a dry, sunny day.  Its there any way to tell the bott, that, no, it isn't raining?

Anyhow, I just programmed the thing to not run at night, so at least there won't be any more nighttime surprises.  BTW, am I the only one to notice that if you have the bott set to the right date it gets the day-of-week wrong?

So far I have not had one successful mowing cycle where the bott left the charger, mowed a section of the lawn, and then went back to the charger.  It always gets stuck somehow.  It is faster to mow the lawn by hand than to keep babysitting this bott.

[rew2]

I solved one mystery -- last nights' bump bump bump.  First, I should correct one statement -- my front lawn is not completely flat, there is a moderate slope up from the driveway on the side of the house to the front door, but at an angle that is well within the stated capabilities of the bott.  There is a brick walkway from the driveway to the front door.  The perimeter wire follows the walkway, a couple of inches over, so the grass will get cut right up to the edge of the walkway.

I ran the bott but it was low on its batteries, so it ran with the mower blade off and followed the perimeter the long way around to get back to the charging station.  I watched it go to see where it got stuck (there are always places where it gets stuck).  I was surprised when it got to the front of the yard and tried to following the wire beside the walkway, with one wheel on the grass and one wheel on the brick walkway.  The problem is that the cog wheels have zero traction on brick.  With just a modest up slope the left wheel spun and spun and spun, the bott going nowhere but making the banging noise I heard last night as the cog wheel slid against the brick.

Well, this one has me stumped.  If I put the wire far enough from the walkway so that the wheels stay on the grass there will be a strip of grass beside the walkway that never gets mowed.   Are there other wheels available for this bott?  I need a wheel that gets traction on brick and can also go up steep grass slopes.

[toolbelt]

If you have a 3200 type model bot the 'mud flap' that sticks down across the rear may be causing it to hang up when trying to back up.  I bent mine such that it clears the top of the grass.  It was always getting hung up on the small dips in the lawn when backing up.  Give it a try.  I can post a picture if you need one.  Also measure the slope of your lawn as from what you're saying it is too steep.

toolbelt...

[rew2]

I have an LB200EL.  It has no mud flaps.  Just cog wheels that are an endless source of grief.

[rew2]

Oh, I did clear up one minor mystery -- getting the wrong day of the week.  I had entered the date as month, day, year.  It needs day, month, year.  User error.

[toolbelt]

I fired up my draw program and drew triangles with two of the sides being:
3' x 2' gave me an angle of about 34 degrees
3' x 1' gave about 18 degrees
3' x 1.75' gave about 23 degrees

Sooo, take a yard stick, attach a string to one end that is either 1.75', 1', or 2'.  Then lay the yard stick on the grass pointing down the slope.  Make sure the string is at the down hill end.  Next, lift the string end up until the yard stick is level.  The string should be just touching the grass for the angle in one of the above cases.  If it's still on the grass then the slope is less.  I don't know what slope your bot says it can handle but the above should give you a pretty good idea as to the slope you are dealing with.

Toolbelt

[rew2]

Well, I'm still in lawnbot hell.  I bought the alternative wheels for the LB200EL.  They're a bit better than the cog wheels, in that they are far less likely to rip the wire apart, but they are still hard plastic, not rubber, so the traction improvement is minimal.  My sister says her Robomower has rubber wheels.   Lucky Robomower users.  Ultimately I had to dig up several bricks in the walkway and reseat them to be a bit more level to get the lawnbot to (barely) get up the slope.

My latest problem:  Virtual gates don't work.  The bot sails right through them, happily remowing zones that have already been mowed and leaving the grass in the zone it's supposed to mow untouched.  I have two virtual gates like this with all spacing 10
inches:

    |
    |   ___________________
    |   |
    |   ------------------------------
    |

The bot happily follows the wire on the left and doesn't notice that its entering a new zone.

[toolbelt]

Your gate looks okay.  You do have a 'toe' on it right?  When going to an area it will follow the perimeter wire so you have to make sure your time-to-the-area is correct.  Once in the area (I'm going to 'assume' that the area to be mowed is at the bottom of your drawing) it will run  over the first wire it comes to then stop, turn, etc.  However, if the space between those two wires that make up the boot is not wide enough it will continue on to the second wire and think that it's on the other side of the boot.  Soooo, make the spacing at least 12 inches.  You may have to weed-whack  down the center of the gate when you trim.

Hmmm, does your bot allow for more than one area to be mowed?  If not then all of this is for naught.  My 3200 allows for 4 areas.  I have to enter the time it takes to get to each area at set up.

Another way of escaping to the other area is just between the perimeter wire and the top or bottom of the boot.  To cure that just bump the perimeter wire in just a tad (3 inches or so) so if the bot is following parallel to the perimeter wire it hits the bump out just before the gap.  You will need bump outs on both sides of the boot, top and bottom of the boot.

Hope that helps.  If you would like a drawing I can make one up for you.

Cheers, Toolbelt

[rew2]

The manual said the spacing should be 8 - 12 inches, with 10" optimum.  I made it as close as I could to 10 inches.  I don't know what you mean by "toe".

I'm having new problems.  I switched to the alternative wheels so the bot could get up the brick walkway.  Now it gets stuck in another part of the yard where it used to work okay -- where the lawn slopes into some ferns.  The bot used to stop and back out when it hit the perimeter wire, now it thrashes around until it stops and complains that it's out of bounds.

It's time for me to admit to myself that I wasted thousands of dollars getting this bot.  I hate it.  And I regard the claims on the company's web page, stating that this bot can handle 25 degree slopes, as grossly deceptive.  The steepest slope in my yard is 16 degrees.  The brick walkway the bot couldn't get up has a slope of 8 degrees.

[RobotLady]

Sorry for all of your trouble; the more challenging the yard is, the more work it will take to get the robot to not have problems.  Our yard is similar to yours and it took several seasons for us to resolve all of the challenges our yard was giving the robot. 

Most or all of the issues you are having are explainable and can be resolved with some extra effort.  The dealer where you purchased your robot should be helping you.  If local, the dealer will come to your home to check out the issues.  Have you contacted them?

I don't believe you purchased your robot from us.  Customers who purchase from us do not have the mountain of issues you are experiencing.  We pre-qualify all of our customers and warn them up-front of problems they may have and how to address them. 

As for specifics, I don't know what manual you are using that says gates can be 10".  I have not seen that work.  I also recommend purchasing our installation guide.  http://www.paradiserobotics.com/lawnbottrobotmowers/roboticmowerinstallationguide.htm

By the way, rubber wheels are shown in the parts list for your robot.  Contact me by phone or email and I will check on availability. (847) 960-8520  info@paradiserobotics.com

Anyway, your dealer should be the one to help you resolve all of these issues.  Dealer support is included in the price; that's the difference between LawnBott and Robomow.  LawnBott has full support via its dealers.  Dealers have been fired who do not support their customers.  Be patient with your LawnBott and you will get it going.

[toolbelt]

Rew2,

Note that the 'Gate' looks just like a boot laid on it's side.  What happens is if the bot is in Area 1 and hits the boot leg wire (the 12 inches is to keep it from also hitting the back side of the boot) AND it's time to go back to the charger when it tries to make the sharp turn at the end of the Toe it ends up hitting the outer perimeter wire.  At that point it makes a sharp turn to the Right and back to the charger it goes.  The boot is nothing more than what would be considered a flower bed.  The Toe just causes it to not follow the wire round and round the bed.  Simple but it works.  If it's not time to go back to the charger the boot wire acts as the perimeter wire keeping the bot in that area.

Note the 'Bump-outs' on both sides of the drawings.  To make them, just move the wire inward 3 inches or more.  Should the bot, by chance, be running parallel to the perimeter wire it could slip through the area at the top and bottom of the boot.  It hits a bump-out, stops, turns.....etc...  Bot can't escape to the other area.

If the bot is in Area 2 and hits the boot wire it will follow it around to the toe, try to do the sharp turn, and get sent back to the charger.  Just what you want to happen.

Unless you get the distance between the boot wire perfect (ie. 11.75 inches instead of 12.... LOL) you may end up with a thin strip of grass that does not get mowed.  I just weed whack it off as I trim close to the fences.  BTW, that may be what you need to do next to the sidewalk, just move the wire in to stop the slipping, then trim off the missed strip when you trim.

8 years ago I had some of the same problems you are going through but now all I do is make sure JR. is in his shed when it's time.  Going on vacation is a snap.  I just give the neighbor instructions on how to turn him off should something happen.  Otherwise the lawn is mowed.... love it.

Hope that helps.  Don't be shy when it comes to asking questions.  If you don't know the answer, it's not a dumb question, ya hear !! LOL

Cheers, toolbelt

[toolbelt]

Rew2,
The bump-outs are to be placed a foot or so before the gaps at the top/bottom of the boot.  They only have to be a few inches long.  Just moved inward enough to cause the bot to hit them when it gets close to the gaps.

toolbelt

[rew2]

Toolbelt, thanks for the illustration.  The "manual" I referred to is actually a sheet that lawnbott.com sent me as an addendum, I don't recall that the manual really explained how to make the virtual gates.  Anyhow, in the sheet I got both the distance between the parallel wires and the width of the gap between the zones are 10".  Your illustration is quite different, with a "toe" and a much narrower gap between the zones (3" instead of 10").  Next weekend I will try changing the wires to look more like your configuration and see how it works.

[toolbelt]

I found that the bot only wiggles about 3 inches back and forth as it follows the wire.  That means only 1 1/2 inches either side so why have a larger gap that he can escape through.   

When installing the toe just do a smooth curve from the leg to the tip of the toe.  Remember the wiggle so keep the sole of the boot at least that far away from the upper part or he will make his turn too quick.  The tip is a very sharp turn-back so don't make it smooth.  The sharp turn-back is what gets him to over shoot the end of the boot and make connection to the outer-perimeter wire. However, you want the bot to be headed back to the charger when that happens.  The sharp turn to the left, causing him to hit the perimeter wire, is just a blimp as far as he is concerned as he's already headed back...

I had originally posted a 10" spacing in the leg part of the boot but RobotLady and I changed it a few days later to make sure the newer bots did not overshoot.  I guess the change never got into the directions you received.

BTW the boot is NOT my invention, another person came up with it.