*******ANNOUNCEMENT - LEG/HIP/NECK JITTERS*******
Today is another big news day (20th April 2021)
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We can now source on an ongoing basis replacement original fitment sensors for all Aibo models from the 210 upwards
These are in addition to our upgraded retrofit sensors so we can offer the choice to owners to go new original or new retrofit (where available/applicable)
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We can also fit new original fitment paw pad touch sensors to enable your Aibo to detect being picked up etc.
Some images of the new parts we have sourced are below:-
The primary reason for replacing sensors is to prevent constantly needing to clean your existing sensors - the reason they need cleaning so often was discovered by us to be deep scoring on a microscopic level after years of normal use - the image below show just how deep that scoring goes - sometimes it is all the way through the resistive layer causing your Aibo to force a movement to try to determine at what position the servo is in - this is what causes the characteristic jitters that we all fear.
In even more good news we can now also replace the sensor discs within the aibo's servo motors found in the heads of 210's and we can also replace the flexi ribbons if they have been damaged. This is thanks to Chris at the Aibo Clinic who has pioneered the replacements.
No more repairs needed - we can simply replace them. - The new flexi's and their sensor pcbs are shown below:-
******STOP PRESS - THE CURE FOR AIBO LEG JITTERS - ERS-210 ~ ERS-7 (INC ALL MODELS IN BETWEEN)******
For clarity - we can now replace or upgrade the leg pots on all models between ERS-210 and ERS-7 (inclusive)
The information below is retained only for historic purpose due to the development above.
Ok so elsewhere I have covered the other "Syndromes" of the ill-fated Aibo family (well most the ERS-210 up to now) and yet another common problem persists within the Aibo gene pool.
This is the well known (and far reaching) leg and or head tremors. The compact nature of the Aibo family required many many engineering challenges to be overcome without creating a unit that cost $20,000 and just wouldn't sell, so best efforts were used in the name of an affordable product (well sort of)and a compact unit.
One of these best efforts was to use resistive motor location instead of optical location so a small variable resister is used which changes it's output value based upon where the motor (and it's attached limb) is positioned. This was an elegant design and was well used within the radio controlled model servo industry so it was tried and tested. The significant difference between these two methods of use was that in most cases a radio controlled model would be lucky to last 20 weeks let alone 20 years and as such inherent wear and dirt ingress was bound to come into play.
This wear and dirt ingress exhibits itself as tremors in the Aibo's limbs and can be quite distressing to watch sometimes and is caused by dirt entering the variable resistor component and altering the accuracy of the output it generates, sometimes it is just worn out. This then leaves Aibos servo motors controlling it's limbs unable to detect their exact position and causes the tremors as the motors continually try to correct their position over and over without success.
The resolution for this is first to determine of it's just dirt ingress or if the part is actually worn out and once this has been determined the corrective method is applied with either the unit being cleaned or replaced.
Most Aibo's exhibiting tremors only do so after many years of use and this syndrome is not normally associated with units that have been shelf queens or are new old stock.
Once repaired the units function normally and as yet none of my own pack that have received this repair have ever re exhibited any tremors (except when faced with my Dalmatian). Granted they don't get used as much now as they did in the early days but it usually takes many years for enough dirt to get in there to cause a problem.