Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
I just purchased a used Trilobite ZA2 from eBay to replace my previous one which is unrepairable, however this one has some issues.
When you start it up and it is in room mapping mode it ends up getting confused and doesn't map the edge of the room; it seems to think that there is something to the right when there isn't and at its worst it goes round in circles, however, once it has decided it has mapped the room then it quite happily zigzags back and form cleaning the room.
Has anyone encountered this?
I'm thinking maybe a sensor bar issue but since normal cleaning seems to work OK and it is just room mapping I'm not so sure.
I can swap in the sensor bar from my dead ZA2 to see if that fixes it (the main board on this one is burnt out and is beyond repair so is only useful for parts).
Also, how long should each battery last when in new condition? I have 5 batteries of which the two from my original ZA2 seem to be best and work for up to 15 mins. Perhaps time to invest in new ones if I can get it working properly.
When you start it up and it is in room mapping mode it ends up getting confused and doesn't map the edge of the room; it seems to think that there is something to the right when there isn't and at its worst it goes round in circles, however, once it has decided it has mapped the room then it quite happily zigzags back and form cleaning the room.
Has anyone encountered this?
I'm thinking maybe a sensor bar issue but since normal cleaning seems to work OK and it is just room mapping I'm not so sure.
I can swap in the sensor bar from my dead ZA2 to see if that fixes it (the main board on this one is burnt out and is beyond repair so is only useful for parts).
Also, how long should each battery last when in new condition? I have 5 batteries of which the two from my original ZA2 seem to be best and work for up to 15 mins. Perhaps time to invest in new ones if I can get it working properly.
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
I cant answer regarding the mapping problem you have but when talking about the batteries:
Around 20 minutes per batterypack should be the norm when running your Trilobite.
Also - Trilobite uses the same batteries as the Automower so if you search for those you can pretty easy find batteries for your Trilobite ZA2.
Around 20 minutes per batterypack should be the norm when running your Trilobite.
Also - Trilobite uses the same batteries as the Automower so if you search for those you can pretty easy find batteries for your Trilobite ZA2.
- robocleaner
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
The only time my ZA1 behaved like that was when it encountered too many corners or obstacles when edging the room. I put that down to running out of memory, because it behaved perfectly well when presented with simplified/less tortuous room/rooms to map.
2 x Karcher RC3000 (2005 & 2012), Trilobite ZA1 (2005), Navibot 8855 (2010)
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
Here it is doing it all the time, even in our kitchen which has just 8 corners it gets confused at the first outside corner.robocleaner wrote:The only time my ZA1 behaved like that was when it encountered too many corners or obstacles when edging the room. I put that down to running out of memory, because it behaved perfectly well when presented with simplified/less tortuous room/rooms to map.
Is there any way to reset it's memory and restore to factory settings?
- robocleaner
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
It's been so long since I last used my ZA1 I don't remember how to/if it can be reset, but taking the batteries out usually does the trick. As you suggest, swapping the Ultrasonic sensors/bumper or main boards between the two might be the best approach in helping to find out what's gone wrong.
2 x Karcher RC3000 (2005 & 2012), Trilobite ZA1 (2005), Navibot 8855 (2010)
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
I'll try leaving it with the batteries out overnight, then tomorrow if it's still confused I'll swap the sensor bars over. I can't swap mainboards as my original ZA2 suffered a catastrophic failure and suffered significant damage; this board will never work again.robocleaner wrote:As you suggest, swapping the Ultrasonic sensors/bumper or main boards between the two might be the best approach in helping to find out what's gone wrong.
- robocleaner
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
My thought was that instead of taking the sensor bumper off the old ZA2 and fitting it to the new one, a different approach might be to take the main board from the new machine and fit it into the old ZA2 instead?
2 x Karcher RC3000 (2005 & 2012), Trilobite ZA1 (2005), Navibot 8855 (2010)
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
Well, leaving the batteries disconnected for a day made no difference.
The only reason I say to swap just the sensor bars it that it's a trivial job whereas changed the main board requires more work </lazy>
The only reason I say to swap just the sensor bars it that it's a trivial job whereas changed the main board requires more work </lazy>
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
So this evening I set about swapping the sensor bars over. I removed the one from my (dead) original ZA2 first then the new one.
On opening up the new one I was greeted by about 3mm of brick dust coating the main PCB and everything inside!
Rather than just swap the bars over I completely stripped the unit down, cleaned it and reassembled it with the Sensor bar from my original ZA2.
Fitted the batteries and set it off cleaning in my lounge and it works!
Notes:
1. The sensor bar I replaced may have been OK, the insides of the unit where so bad that is is a wonder anything worked!
2. Looking at the serial numbers (48 & 61) and test date-stamps both units were assembled and tested within a few hours of each other on the same day!
On opening up the new one I was greeted by about 3mm of brick dust coating the main PCB and everything inside!
Rather than just swap the bars over I completely stripped the unit down, cleaned it and reassembled it with the Sensor bar from my original ZA2.
Fitted the batteries and set it off cleaning in my lounge and it works!
Notes:
1. The sensor bar I replaced may have been OK, the insides of the unit where so bad that is is a wonder anything worked!
2. Looking at the serial numbers (48 & 61) and test date-stamps both units were assembled and tested within a few hours of each other on the same day!
- robocleaner
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
Being "killed by crud" coating the motherboard is a problem which also afflicts the Samsung Navibot... which also simply exhausts the vacuum air around the inside of the robot rather than being ejected/ported to outside of the machine.
Glad to hear you've managed to get your ZA2 working again.
Glad to hear you've managed to get your ZA2 working again.
2 x Karcher RC3000 (2005 & 2012), Trilobite ZA1 (2005), Navibot 8855 (2010)
Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
When the ZA2 is in room mapping mode, it runs counter clockwise when it starts, following the perimeter (or outer wall) of a room space. During mapping, the wheel sensors count the number of “steps” each wheel makes. This is used to calculate the total area of the mapped space which is what is displayed as the number of minutes it will vacuum once room mapping is done. The step counter is also used to figure out the amount of left and right hand turns made by the ZA2 by comparing the number of steps each wheel has made. If this comparison calculation comes back with more than a total of 180 degrees of right hand turns, the software knows it is not following the outer perimeter of a room, but is in fact following an object in the center of a room space. This could be a kitchen island or similar. If left in this mode, the Trilobite would just keep going around and around so after making a total of 180 degrees of right hand turns, it will make a 90 degrees left hand turn on the spot and drive until it finds an outer wall from where it will continue mapping the space.
The zigzag pattern used during vacuuming is actually the same pattern used when prospecting for ore using an airplane. Maria Månsson, the lady CEO of Swedish company Avantel that actually designed the processor board and software for the Trilobite ZA2 (no, it was not Electrolux, Avantel had a contract to design the ZA2 processor board and software for Electrolux), has a PhD in Geographic Surveying and Mapping. She told me that the zigzag pattern covers about 94% of the room but is much faster than following a linear pattern.
The zigzag pattern used during vacuuming is actually the same pattern used when prospecting for ore using an airplane. Maria Månsson, the lady CEO of Swedish company Avantel that actually designed the processor board and software for the Trilobite ZA2 (no, it was not Electrolux, Avantel had a contract to design the ZA2 processor board and software for Electrolux), has a PhD in Geographic Surveying and Mapping. She told me that the zigzag pattern covers about 94% of the room but is much faster than following a linear pattern.
- Medtech
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
RoboCleaner I have the same robot, but unfortunately without batteries, can give the photo the connector and connect the battery to the battery connector. Perhaps you have a diagram of a battery connected to the connector. Thank you.
Thank you GOOGLE translator for the freedom of communication.
- robocleaner
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Re: Confused Electrolux Trilobite ZA2
Plenty of well priced trilobite batteries available via ebay all across Europe or direct from suppliers in China (Cameron Sino as one example, whose copy batteries I've found reasonably reliable in the past). I don't have a schematic, but would assume the red/black are the supply and the white pair go to the thermistor.
2 x Karcher RC3000 (2005 & 2012), Trilobite ZA1 (2005), Navibot 8855 (2010)