Roomba 5xx : Wall Following ?

berkano · Joined: 09 May 2008 Posts: 2

Anyone noticed a difference between wall following behaviour of 4xx and 5xx roomba series ?

It looks like my new 535 is not as good at wall following as my 4xx, but that might be because of a different programming ? (it does not necessarily start following a wall when meets one, and sometimes will follow a wall on its right side (with sensor) just like it would if the wall would be on its left side (keep turning into the wall etc.. instead of going straight along the wall)

Other times / rooms, it will follow walls as expected....

Note : I did read http://www.roombareview.com/chat/viewtopic.php?t=7836 that sounded familiar and made sure my wall following sensor is clean

So is that just a different algorytm ??
Thanks for your input !

Fraggboy · Posted: May 9, 2008, 7:07 am Post subject:

berkano, Welcome to RoombaReview!!

With the 4xx Roomba's there was the two sensor holes which one could blow out and make sure there is no dust/debris interfering with the operation(easy access). With the 5xx's, it's behind the lens, which it's harder to get the dust/debris out, and it could hinder the wall-following operation. Just my thought as to why people see strange behavior.

I'm sure the algorithm has changed a bit as to when it will follow the wall and when it wont'..

berkano · Joined: 09 May 2008 Posts: 2

Thanks Chris,

I unscrewed the bumper to make sure the sensor was clean, that's why I guess either my sensor is defective or it's just a behavour issue depending on the environment size of room / color of floor.

Since it seems it sometimes does follow walls, I guess my sensor is fine, I' m just surprised it does not always follow walls like my 4xx did.

Fraggboy · Posted: May 9, 2008, 7:21 am Post subject:

My 5xx's exhibit different behavior in following the wall than the 4xxx Roomba I owned.

_JP_ · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 197

My 560 does follow the walls and leaves the tracks in the carpet pile to prove it. Sometimes I wish it would not though, it seems that the walls get many more passes than the rest of areas.

fancyfreewv · Posted: May 10, 2008, 6:30 am Post subject:

_JP_ wrote: My 560 does follow the walls and leaves the tracks in the carpet pile to prove it. Sometimes I wish it would not though, it seems that the walls get many more passes than the rest of areas.

I agree about the wall following tracks. I hated them with my 4xxx Disco. It seemed it would clean across a bit then immediately go back to the wall following in the same area. After 10 passes there in a cleaning cycle, the tracks stayed there until the next time. Looked bad.

With my 5xx series, this does not happen. It does follow for a short time and does not incessantly keep doing it to cause tracks. In addition I have replaced my wall to wall carpet since getting rid of the Disco and the new longer pile carpet doesn't show the tracks nearly as much for which I am thankful.

A lot of this depends on your house, furniture placement and so forth besides being a sensor issue.

sgroomba · Joined: 17 Oct 2007 Posts: 132

Our 5xx follows walls mostly with the wall to the right of the Roomba. It does this very smoothly. Sometimes it follows walls along its left side, but does this fairly clumsily, relying on repeatedly bumping into the wall and turning away rather than using a sensor.

I'm not sure if our 4xxx does the left-side wall following.

richnorto · Joined: 03 Sep 2007 Posts: 246

My 5xx leaves definite tracts around walls and furniture it can't go under! Every time I walk into my bedroom, I have to remind myself the tv cabinet has NOT been moved! Deep impressions, but great cleaning!