I have a new Roomba 570 that is afraid of falling into a black carpet. In other words its ‘cliff sensors’ indicate a cliff when on black carpets such as a door matt or Ikea style carpets with bold geometric black patterns. This a real pain since it constantly gets stuck and the Roomba must be reset (The door matts have just enough ‘grey’ in them to only trigger the cliff senors occassionally).
This is a known problem - forums.irobot.com/irobothome/board/message?board.id=80&thread.id=7223
This problem seems to have been around for a while given this video - youtube.com/watch?v=A9L0w7C4OeE Note the 400 series Roomba.
The problem is that I have areas where I have black carpet and other areas where I have stairs and sunken family room.
My question is there another way (other than covering the sensors with with tape) of temporarily disabling the cliff sensors such as holding a combination of bottons?
Perhaps IRobot should have a program to get carpet manufacturers to brand their carpets “IRobot Roomba Compliant”. Yeah, I know it is a cheap shot, but this is very irriating and it is obvious that IRobot knew about the problem when designing their new series of Roombas (5th generation products - really).
Any help would be appreciated.
John Hansen
I have blocked my Roomba’s cliff sensors with aluminum foil (I tried 32 pound white paper, but it didn’t work). It works for a while. After about 5 missions though, the cliff sensors went off again not allowing the Roomba to clean. It appeared that foil had gotten so banged up that it was not reflecting the IR signal of the cliff sensors. The only solution was to remove the foil over the cliff sensors.
I guess the next time I need to clean the black carpet its another 10 minutes work to cover the cliff sensors or just get out the old Hoover.
regards,
John Hansen
I should just add that the IRobot Roomba is a great appliance. I wouldn’t want to do without it, even with its flaws.
If you find that appliances such as dish washers and washing machines are useful to you, then you will get satisfaction out of owning the IRobot Roomba.
hope this adds a little balance to this thread.
John Hansen
I am a bit upset. I have just spent $25,000.00 (does not include equiptment) to build a nice Media room. My thoughts were TO DO IT RIGHT…I must make it BLACK. So the walls are black (pool table felt) and short nap black marine carpet. Of course you knew BEFORE you read this that Roomba does not clean black. I called them and they sounded like a Robot. I talked with 2 people and they kept saying the same thing. I will tell you I am not stupid. If U can make something do then you can make it NOT DO. I read the information that is on the NEt and was told to cover the cliff sensors with foil…I did and it worked fine…then the next time it did not. I took the foil off and the unit worked well on my floors that are NOT black. I put foild back on the unit and it cleaned the black carpet fine…UNTIL I wanted it to work the second time. I am one FRUSTRATED man. Someone…somewhere must be smart enough to help me with this nightmare. I need this Roomba ONLY for this ONE ROOM. This room has no stairs.
The people at ROOBA (a company I had the UTMOST respect for for many years. I purchased the 1st units. Now I have eight Roombas (all 500 series). The lady and guy I talked to…not only would not help they pretended I was the ONLY one with this problem. I know there must be at LEAST 5 people in the world that have a designer carpet with a black strip in it somehwere. So we buy a unit to clean our home and then when finished we must get the Hoover out and clean the dark spots.
Oh…I will tell you I purchased a Neato…they said it would clean black carpet…however U can not have black furniture or black walls. Now they are my interior decorator.
This appears to be a BIG problem. I have owened several companies and when I knew there was a problem I addressed it…however I do not own Roomba. So bad to have such a great product and NOT be able to control a problem. Is this the NEW Generation of companies? The I DON’T care company?
Ed Le Blanc
After I wrote yesterday that I was upset…I went to brain storming and I came with a TESTED way to make the unit think the carpet is NOT black. I have tired the foil and the white papaer. It works sometime and other times it does not…plus U disable your unit form seeing a drop off (I have no stairs or drop off’s…so I do not care). So I brain stormed (I do have a brain I locate an activate it every once in a while lol…I am an old guy and we know old folks are stupid).
I come with a way to build a little kit that will let the unit work on black carpet and (instantly without removing tape) give it back it’s ability to sense a drop off). I find it amazing that the company that built it could not come with a way to solve the problem…MAYBE they will be smart enough to pay me for the answer. Wow it feels good to do something a big company can not do. This shows how the complexity of the world today.
Months ago I solved the problem BP was having in the Gulf with the giant hole deep in the gulf…dumping oil into our enviroment. I made a model of the unit ( still have it) and showed to a few guys that were oil engineers. One of them got real excited and hired a lawer to defend me (Made sure I made money helping them save millions). One of the top engineers of BP met with me and the lawer (after signing a agreement). He looked at it and said it WOULD work…100%. He was amazed how simple it was. He went to BP and told them I had a solution. We were all excited and expected to here from BP…they did nothing. I am told there was some politics involved. The oil did continued to destroy for weeks. This device could have been built in 10 days and would have cost MAYBE 1.5 million.
Wow did I get off the subject or not…my point is big companies do not want answers from NO-BODIES like me (although articles have been written about me in the past). The solution is so simple and easy to do. If I build the kit…it would take about 10 minuets to add it. I am hoping I hear from Roomba…but don’t count on it.
I had the utmost respect for Roomba for years. I have several Roombas in my home. I am very good at doing minor repairs…mostly cleaning). They are very good robots…but to tell me with NO emotion (like a robot) that they have NO WAY to help me (I have a feeling they know how…I really do) but will not because of some lawyer or company policy.
I still love the Robots…Now I love the one that will clean my BLACK carpet in my BLACK room (something NEATO can not do…they also were rude and told me there was NO WAY if I had black walls). I have a NEW Neato I will put on E bay…ran maybe 10 minuets…very confused.
@edleblanc1
It has been about 14 months since your post and, assuming iRobot isn’t interested in your solution and your aren’t commercializing it otherwise, would you be willing to share the concept? I have a new Roomba 650 and it refuses to clean the black-grey-white patterned carpet in the dining room. This is driving me nuts since it is one of the primary areas that need cleaning and not even covering the cliff sensors with tape/paper seems to work reliably for me. Thanks.
It has been around 4 months since your post and, expecting iRobot isn’t occupied with your answer and your aren’t commercializing it overall, would you be willing to impart the idea? I have another Roomba 650 and it declines to clean the dark dim white designed cover in the lounge area. This is driving me crazy since it is one of the essential regions that need cleaning and not by any means covering the bluff sensors with tape/paper appears to work dependably for me. Much obliged.
Chris Joe
Armstrong texas
We unfortunately have not heard from @edleblanc1 and nothing has been commercialized yet to fix this issue. If you feel comfortable, you may open up your robot and tape the receiver and transmitter together for each sensor. As shown in this blog.
It seems to me that part of the problem with covering the cliff sensors with paper or foil is lack of space for the infrared light to reflect and be received on the other side. I solved this by creating a reflecting surface with a mm or 2 of space between it and the sensor window. I cut up a white cottage cheese container which has a natural curve to it and then taped it over the sensors. In the photo you can see how I cut the container and taped it over the window. I used foil tape used for HVAC systems, but any tape could work.
I had a similar problem, involving the Braava and a concrete floor, which is grey but apparently too dark for the edge sensors.
I was able to solve the problem with aluminum foil and electric tape. I had mixed/bad luck with smooth pieces of foil cleanly taped over the sensors; crunching the foil and taping these little “mountains” over the sensors works perfectly (the crumples scatter the light better).
I use a Eufy 11+. It can’t navigate the black swirls on our many rugs. I used black electrical tape to secure 3 carefully cut and folded pieces of manila folder between the bumper and and the body of the robot covering, but not touching the 3 sensors. The results are excellent. No errors, no interruption to the robot progress. The attached photo shows the piece of manila folder secured to the bumper with a long piece of tape, folder over the bumper, cut just so around the opening to the front wheel, and attached in 2 more spots with tape. The other 2 sensors are covered in a similar manner. They bits of folder don’t get hung up on anything, don’t interfere with the nearby spinning brushes, and work like a charm.
Why not make the checking of the sensors a choice in the app? Seems like a simple software change in the app and an updated version for the Roomba.
1 Like
Hi, I realise this is an old post but I am wanting to know which wires to join to disable a sensor such as in the robotic vac cliff sensor. There are two wires that have come off the sensor on one side of the black box. Can I soilder these together? They have white diode wire around them. Or do I put them together with the matching wires from the other sensor on the other side of the box?
Jgendron said ;
[table][tr][td][blockquote][blockquote]Jgendron Expert ( offline )
Posts: 436[/blockquote]Posted: 2013-06-28 07:26 [/blockquote][/td][/tr][tr][td][table][tr][td]Re: Falling into a Black Carpet[/td][/tr][/table]
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We do understand your disappointment. We do have two suggestions that could help you. Instead of using tin foil, we recommend that you use pieces of white paper cut in squares and tape over them to make them hold onto the robot. We have had customers use this method and it is a permanent fix as long as the paper does not get damages on furniture. You should not have to redo this every time the robot cleans. The robot will simply always think that it is within safe distance of the floor and will not see any cliffs.
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The other solution would be to disable the cliff sensors internally. This is more complicated since it means that you will need to cut and solder wires together since the robot will not work if you simply unplug the cliff sensor connector. This would consist of cutting the wires for the PT sensors and soldering them together as to make the robot think that it will never see a cliff.[/highlight][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table]
Hi JHansen,
Unfortunately, at this moment the only known way of disabling the sensors temporarily is to block the sensors with tin foil or tape.
The best way to solve this problem is to block the cliff sensors and use virtual wallsto block cliffs in your home. This way the robot will clean your carpets and will not fall down stairs.
At this point we can just hope that iRobot will find a fix for the 6th generation.
Regards,
Thank you for your comment JHansen.
It is true that these domestic robots do have flaws. But, they also help us in our daily chores.
If we want things fixed on our Roombas it is important to say so. Someone at iRobot will certainly hear about these flaws and they will eventually find fixes for them.
Regards,
We do understand your disappointment. We do have two suggestions that could help you. Instead of using tin foil, we recommend that you use pieces of white paper cut in squares and tape over them to make them hold onto the robot. We have had customers use this method and it is a permanent fix as long as the paper does not get damages on furniture. You should not have to redo this every time the robot cleans. The robot will simply always think that it is within safe distance of the floor and will not see any cliffs.
The other solution would be to disable the cliff sensors internally. This is more complicated since it means that you will need to cut and solder wires together since the robot will not work if you simply unplug the cliff sensor connector. This would consist of cutting the wires for the PT sensors and soldering them together as to make the robot think that it will never see a cliff.
We know that robot manufacturers are always trying to fix certain problems and aspects of their products. Unfortunately, this can take some time. But, we are certain that you will be able to obtain the desired effect with one of these fixes.
We would like to hear more about your Roomba cliff sensor solution. Once you have your kit set up, do not hesitate to post pictures and explanations. Unless you would like to keep it to yourself.
We are always interested in hearing about new projects and solutions and we are certain that our community would like to also.
For the love of God, iRobot. This issue is over 10 years old. What is so hard about designing it with a user option to turn the sensors off/on as needed? Obviously it’s my fault if I let my robot commit suicide by stairs.
You know that there are people who live in single-floor homes, right? A cheaper model with no cliff sensors at all for bungalows or otherwise where cliffs aren’t a concern would surely sell.
Or better yet, ask your engineers to design reverse virtual walls that give Roomba a “safe to clean” signal that overrides the cliff sensors. Then, since people would always have to act in order give it the safe signal, there’s no way anyone can forget to leave their sensors off, therefore mitigating accidents and the subsequent bad PR that I’m sure is your main concern for not giving us the option.
Call it a “Virtual Safe Space” and charge $100 for it even if it costs 5 cents to manufacture. It drives me crazy, both as a customer and as a PR Executive to see how far back the dates on all these threads go. Iraq has made more progress in that time.
And no I don’t want to cut and solder wires. That’s an obnoxious solution that means a product shouldn’t have left the engineering lab yet.
PLEASE.
@Jconley
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