Update: 01/22/21
OK… I spent more time than I care to admit carefully trimming Scotch green plaid frosted tape and then even more time carefully tucking those many tape layers down into the 4 clear plastic Cliff Sensors of my BotVac. Every new layer was then tested on my fake Persian rug (see photo below). The bot failed to escape the center “star” every single time… even up to 5 layers thick !
Finally, in frustration with my total lack of progress, I simply slapped on a layer AT AN ANGLE that covered the whole sensor guard. (see photo… the carefully trimmed layers are in top sensor… the final, slapped on, layer is at bottom of photo)
Result… the Cliff Sensor was, finally, completely disabled and the Bot easily escaped the rug ! !
Note - after all the time and effort it took to trim and carefully tuck all those 4 or 5 tape layers x 4 sensors down into the clear sensor pockets I was not about to rip them all out again to test if the solution was simply enough LAYERS or was it the ANGLE of the tape. If you test this remaining question please add your findings to this thread. Thanks.
Original Post: 01/09/21
Well, that was an interesting experiment. I covered the 4 cliff sensors with yellow plastic electrical tape. My logic was that if the sensor failed to receive ANY reflected light… or the expected color/wavelength… (like if black tape was used) it would conclude that it was hanging over a stair edge and stop… just as it does now when it “sees” the black patches in my Persian rug (see photo).
Apparently yellow tape ALSO fails to reflect the correct color/wavelength of light and it triggered a “Put Me Down!” reaction where the bot thinks that when all 4 sensors fail to detect anything it means that its wheels are all up in the air. It specifically asks that its wheels be put back down on the floor… even when both wheels are already clearly “grounded” !
One or two sensors reading “dark” must tell it to stop due to a stair edge… three or four dark sensors mean it must be upside down or up in the air.
Conclusion: the cliff sensors apparently have at least two functions that will be blocked with tape… resulting in a progress stop and “easy fix” fail. So… I’m back to suggesting the two option “Virtual Wall” solution proposed in my earlier post.
Rug Photo: bot fails completely to escape from the center of the star (tan region surrounded by black).
