Neato first run....what's it doing?

[Scott up north]

Ran Neato for the first time.....in the entry way it went around the perimeter 4 times.....random wandering around room...no methodical up and downs. Right now it's doing the perimeter for the 5th or 6th time. Kind of reminding me of my old Roomba. What is going on? Entry way has 2 glass patio doors on 2 walls......could be acting like mirrors to the IR laser. What is the elevation of the planr of the laser from the top of Neato? The glass portion of the doors begins at about 11 inches off the floor.

Its been running none stop for the past 25 minutes in a 15' x 10' room.....like I say very Roomba like. Its doing the Roomba on me! Definitely in Roomba mode.

In the kitchen.....cleaned perimeter like it should have.....some wandering....cleaned 1/2 the room with some up and down and then quit at its beginning point. No glass doors here. This thing is not right.

Sucks and picks up stuff like you wouldn't believe though.

Any thoughts suggestions?

[joeygil]

Seems stuck in a loop. I saw mine do something similar a few days ago. Works best if you start it from the charging dock.

[neato]

If the Neato goes around the perimeter of the room more than once then it is probably lost.

Try having the Neato clean a standard room like a bedroom with the doors closed and the base in it. It should be able finish and dock and you can see how it is supposed to work. From there you can try individual rooms to see how the Neato behaves.

[justflie]

Eek. Hopefully just a fluke, Scott. Keep us up to date!

[sageman]

is there any sort of reset prosedure on the neato

mabey shutting it down for a few minits will do the trick

[Scott up north]

If the Neato goes around the perimeter of the room more than once then it is probably lost.

Try having the Neato clean a standard room like a bedroom with the doors closed and the base in it. It should be able finish and dock and you can see how it is supposed to work. From there you can try individual rooms to see how the Neato behaves.

Ok, tonight I gave my new Neato the above test. I placed it in a bedroom with the doors closed and started it from the base. I sat up on the bed to observe.

It started out going around the perimeter. Then it redid the perimeter. Then it kind of wandered around in a very non-linear way.....not straight lines at all. It went over some areas a couple of times, back over areas of the perimeter it had already been. It completely missed some areas of the floor.

When it thought it was done it turned off the vacuum and made its way to the base only it couldn't find it. It wandered across the room away from the base and stopped. The LCD had the message "Unable to navigate please clear my path" even though nothing was blocking its path. I performed the bedroom test twice with similar results each time.

I tried it out in the kitchen with similar results. Multiple runs around the perimeter of the kitchen, missed areas of the floor.....couldn't find the base and the same "Unable to navigate pleas clear my path" message. In the kitchen I moved the base and Neato at least stopped next to the base....but it missed large areas of the floor after running around the perimeter several times.

The RPS system can't be working right. Once when it was trying to find its base and with the vacuum off, you could hear the RPS sensor spinning around in its turret. It ended with the same "clear my path" message.

So now what....back to HS and ask for another? Neato, is there any other function or test I can perform to verify the thing is not working correctly?

Thanks in advance,
Scott

[sageman]

did you see my post above yours

[Scott up north]

did you see my post above yours

I turned it off between every test. Once after a test (without turning it off) it wouldn't even run...it went straight to that error message. Only after I turned it off and restarted it would it even move off its base.

Scott

[sageman]

i think the connection that connect the laser to the pcb either isnt in the the connecter propally or some wires inside are broken resulting in the software not being able to read what the laser is seeing

[neato]

@Scott up north

Thank you for running that test. The Neato should easily handle a standard bedroom and your description shows that it cannot. Combine that with the Unable to Navigate error during the run and you have proven that the Neato is unable to navigate correctly.

You should contact Neato customer support at (1-877-296-3286) and describe the Neato behavior and request a replacement.

[Scott up north]

@Scott up north

Thank you for running that test. The Neato should easily handle a standard bedroom and your description shows that it cannot. Combine that with the Unable to Navigate error during the run and you have proven that the Neato is unable to navigate correctly.

You should contact Neato customer support at (1-877-296-3286) and describe the Neato behavior and request a replacement.

I called Neato today and they will send a replacement. They suggested I try one more thing: Shut Neato down through the LCD display menu (under support) and then recharge it for a few hours with it plugged into the cord.

Last night I was shutting it down via the support menu but I didn't use the cord to recharge it. I'm not sure how recharging it with the cord instead of with the dock (which is working fine) can make a difference but I said I'd give it a try.

Neato said, that when the vacuum acts like it did to me, shutting it down (through the support menu, not just holding down the start button until the green light goes out) and recharging it for several hours resets Neato and normal operation can be restored about 50% of the time.
Scott

[sageman]

good luck

[Scott up north]

@Scott up north

Neato said, that when the vacuum acts like it did to me, shutting it down (through the support menu, not just holding down the start button until the green light goes out) and recharging it for several hours resets Neato and normal operation can be restored about 50% of the time.
Scott

I did as Neato's phone support suggested (menu shut down + plug-in charge for several hours) and the result was the same as yesterday. Something is not right with it.

Interestingly, after my 5 minute test, I wanted to try it again but Neato said its battery was low and needed to recharge.....while on the charger its orange light was pulsing....this was after 5 minutes of use after 3+ hours of plugged in charging. I know 5 minutes of running would not discharge a fully battery charged battery...

Neato support is first rate.....I hope there are not too many like mine out there. It really is a first class product. Build quality is superb, concept and application of the technology first rate. And boy, the vacuum is really powerful! Neato said they will send another one out FedEx as soon as I call them back. I'll then send my current one back once I receive a FedEx mailing label with the new Neato.

Scott

[Scott up north]

Just ran Neato again......it only cleaned half the kitchen floor with minimal wandering but it did manage to dock itself for the first time!

That RPS sensor device is driven by a (rubber?) belt and I wonder if somehow this could be a weak part of the design. Do other's RPS sensors make a slight noise as it spins? I can clearly hear mine (scraping, maybe?) after the vacuum has powered down and its looking for the dock.
Scott

[Scott up north]

Neato is sending me a replacement vac but until it arrives next week I have still been using the Neato described in the previous posts in this thread. The vacuum can't navigate as I'm sure the RPS laser isn't even working at all but the vacuum suction is really great and it can still work in "Roomba" mode.

Today I started to get RPS errors.....I hadn't received them before.

Just a data point....could other's frequent RPS errors progress to the current state of my Neato?
Scott

[Fraggboy]

. . . That RPS sensor device is driven by a (rubber?) belt and I wonder if somehow this could be a weak part of the design. Do other's RPS sensors make a slight noise as it spins? I can clearly hear mine (scraping, maybe?) after the vacuum has powered down and its looking for the dock.
Scott

I don't know if the drive belt is the weakest spot. I mean back in the day VHS players used them, as well as cassette decks. They lasted for a while before breaking. When I pulled mine apart, there was good tension on the belt, so I doubt it would be slipping. I can hear the the RPS turret when the vacuum is turned off also (When searching for the base when it wants to dock).

IMHO, the weakest part of the Neato is the drive belt for the brush (Which Neato assured us that it was reinforced material).

The vacuum can't navigate as I'm sure the RPS laser isn't even working at all but the vacuum suction is really great and it can still work in "Roomba" mode.

If the RPS is not spinning, or supplying any data to the robot, one will receive the "RPS Error".

[Scott up north]

Another thing I have noticed that when I run my defective Neato, when it doesn't give me a RPS error, the battery runs downs only after about 15 min of vacuuming on a hard floor. Like whatever is preventing my robot from navigating is also contributing to excessive current draw from the battery.