My Dolphin: Now I'm getting rid of it

[CarlD]

Just so everyone else following this thread knows. I send a message to Maytronics in Isreal directly and challenged them to join this discussion.

While they may be monitoring it, they did not respond to me and have not made any comment here.

That was about a week ago.

Pretty poor.

Just to be fair to Maytronics: They HAVE been in touch with me, I sent them this link, and they tried and were UNABLE to access the thread.

I sent them a text ver of the thread up through yesterday morning.

Brent, I think they should have responded to your eMail, but if you don't have an actual repair issue with Smart Pool you can reference, I can understand it being low priority with them.

Or else they felt that since they were in touch with me, that was all that was needed. I don't know--I do not know what they were thinking but they ASSURE me they are all over Smart Pool like stink on a skunk.

[cheshamjim]

Question for Brent: The Dolphin I sent back was the Diagnostic model, very basic with no user programmability or joystick. I don't think it could teach itself anything.

Those models that are supposed to be self programming -- wouldn't they have to have somekind of encoders and/or sensors to acquire data?

-Jim

[brent.roberts]

About the only thing I think they could do is have a level switch that started a timer when they went up a wall. A simple program on a chip could capture the time it took between hitting walls and figure out something about the pool lenghth and width.

From observing mine all that the timing would do would be to tell it how long to spend going in each direction so it had some time when it hit the surface to creep along the waterline ... doing 2 things. First it would actually be scrubbing the waterline a bit and secondly repositioning it for a reverse run across a new section of bottom. I have notice that mine does not spend a lot of time scrubbing walls at each end of a run. Almost all the scrubbing at waterline and creeping along, is at the same end of the cycle. This ends up with the thing actually going around the pool in the same direction in each cycle. When you take it out to clean it and reverse the handle, it goes around the other way. Not very sophisticated "robotics" but it kinda works. It does generate a random pattern that eventually, in like 6 hours, covers the bottom of a traditional 16x32 pool. But if it was real smart it could cover that area in less than an hour.

There appears to me to be no encoders. No idle wheel that senses that it has hit an obstruction. It might sense current draw on the motor when it hits an obstruction but that seems unlikely. It might also sense that it has not gone up a wall in a while and know it has hit an obstruction. I think Carl reported that his Diamond did that when it hung up on his ladder.

By the way I have never challenged the Dolphin with a ladder. Took the ladder out and left it out. Neither Kreepy Krawly, nor Barracuda, nor Polaris ATV could work with the ladder in.

[Pool_Mike]

Why do you want to get rid of me

... Sorry bad joke

[hzz]

I have a ladder....Dolphin seems to have no problems with it.

I am beginning to think I am lucky....

[cleancloths]

The Dolphin is so bad on obstacles that my kids had left one of those rubber torpedoes in the pool and the Dolphin ran over it and just hung there and would not move at all. The same torpedoe has no impact on the Blue Pearl.

[CarlD]

Y'know, I didn't have much in the way of problems with my Dolphin for almost 2 years. It didn't climb my drop in steps--neither does the Diamond, but it didn't affect its cleaning. Once, the Dolphin got its cord hooked on the bottom of the ladder, and once since I've been having problems, but it never got bothered by the ladder--the Diamond gets stuck under it and I have to remove the ladder. The Dolphin NEVER got stuck on anything else--the Diamond has already grabbed its cord.

Also, a Diamond DaVinci (which I have) is not recommended for ANY shape pool but a rectangle--unless you are willing to use the remote to control it. The Dolphin can handle rounds and other odd shapes. Luckily, I have a rectangle.

But the Diamond works--and the Dolphin no longer does. That's a BIGGGGGG difference.

[cheshamjim]

About the only thing I think they could do is have a level switch that started a timer when they went up a wall. A simple program on a chip could capture the time it took between hitting walls and figure out something about the pool lenghth and width.

Thanks, Brent. I appreciate the explanation on how these beasts might get their "smarts" (limited though that may be). It helps to understand how these things might work.

-Jim