Powerbot on Cantilever Chair problem

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glnc222
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Powerbot on Cantilever Chair problem

Post by glnc222 »

A Neato forum thread shows how the bumper on these robots needs to be made lower to avoid getting trapped climbing the runner legs of cantilever chairs such as a scandinavian style from Ikea furniture.
http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewto ... mper+lower
The larger 9000 series Powerbot with the larger 4 inch wheels at least, does not get stuck on these -- I would have doubts about the smaller 7000 series with 3 inch wheels similar to other brands.
What happened with this Powerbot was it could not pass over the wood strips on the floor, but would climb onto them and then back off without getting stuck. The thicker side strips can even engage the bumper at least some times. It could clean under the chair similar to other tight spaces, which do have minimum widths to allow maneuvering in the simplistic method of all these robots (lacking memory of how they got into tight spots, so as to back out); they like to spin around so always moving forward where all the sensors are mounted).
[edit] The Powerbot still needs additions for other furniture problems (as all the robots seem to do in my experience with both Roomba and Neato besides Samsung) e.g. thread on bumper addition
http://www.robotreviews.com/chat/viewto ... 22&t=19388
Powerbot 9250 on Ikea Cantilever Chair
Powerbot 9250 on Ikea Cantilever Chair
glnc222
Robot Master
Posts: 5480
Joined: January 23rd, 2012, 8:19 pm
Location: The Villages, Florida
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Re: Powerbot on Cantilever Chair problem

Post by glnc222 »

Case of Bumper Actually Too High

The flat metal leg of a folding portable table is 1 in. high, just below the Powerbot bumper, and the tilting suspension required in such devices allows the front to climb atop the leg where the friction is too great to climb or pull off -- robot stuck. [edit] Npte the dark metal defeats the IR proximity detectors around the Powerbot.
Instead of a mod to improve the bumper -- harder to do on Powerbot compared to Neato mods posted in that forum here -- it was easier to fix the furniture, adding a 1/2 in. square dowel to raise the leg height to engage the bumper (needed metal cutting drill bits for the steel frame material, though other options available).
BumperHigh1.JPG
Powerbot shown with side bumper extension mod other thread.
BumperHigh2.JPG
Design of many such products remains "quick and dirty", ignoring fine details of design which would be simple and cheap to improve if they only paid attention to them. These bumper issues especially affect the units with square fronts for front mounted brushes. As Roomba has just added a first time model S9+ in that shape, it needs to be examined for treatment of this bumper height issue. Pictures suggest a good design, low bumper on this one, but needs testing on obstacles (hard to judge the bottom edge exactly...).

I suspect the way I would fix the bumper on the Powerbot, if even possible, is to attach a plastic strip to the thin bumper face with several small screws, making it wider. The problem is that the material must be very stiff so that it pushes in the bumper when pressed at a distance below the existing bumper, and does not just bend. So not very reversible in case of warranty repair. It is also necessary not to block the IR proximity sensors shining light through the smoke plastic front.
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