Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

News and information about the Electrolux Pure i9 and the Electrolux Trilobite series Robotic Vacuums. All discussion and troubleshooting questions go here.
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plaroche
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Joined: August 18th, 2013, 9:12 am

Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by plaroche »

Hey! My 11 year old ZA1 Trilobite gave me an error 11 the other day, and since I don't know if I'll be able to find a new mainboard for it anytime soon, or even repair it's current one, anyone think its possible to use some other control system for it? Possibly an Arduino? I have little experience in these matters, only used Picaxe stuff so far, so any input is greatly appreciated!
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vic7767
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Re: Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by vic7767 »

There is another controller you might consider: http://www.ez-robot.com/Explore/
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plaroche
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Joined: August 18th, 2013, 9:12 am

Re: Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by plaroche »

I do like the look of that, especially since the programming side seems fairly simple, which is exactly what I need, thanks!! :D I assume getting the thing moving would be a reasonably simple task, however I'm clueless how the ultrasonic sensors on the bumper of the Trilobite are set up, and how these would interface with any controllers?
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vic7767
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Re: Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by vic7767 »

The drive motors would need to be controlled using H-Bridges that the EZ controller would then control, same thing with the ultrasonic sensors. The EZ controller has both ultrasonic and IR control interfaces already built.
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plaroche
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Joined: August 18th, 2013, 9:12 am

Re: Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by plaroche »

Looking at the bumper, it seems each receiver has some form of serial communication as each only has 1 wire I think, and the emitter bar has a 4 pin connector. Would it be possible to solder these straight to the board of a normal off-the-shelf ultrasonic sensor, or is their some simpler way of doing it and I'm missing the obvious?
Dave2084
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Joined: October 4th, 2015, 7:48 am

Re: Modernising The Electrolux Trilobite

Post by Dave2084 »

Did you make any progress on this? I have one ZA2 that has a main board that is beyond repair and another that isn't working properly ...

It would be nice to replace the mainboard and make Trilobite IOT.

I have had Trilobite, Roomba (x3) and a Navibot and the Trilobite had the best cleaning performance of all (but is a little noisy!).
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