Question/feedback from anyone in a similar situation who may be using two charging stations. The similar dual docking station thread stopped in May so I thought I would start a new thread since others may be interested or have the same problem. Did you (@patm or @bryan.wheeler) end up using two charging stations? I am now also considering purchasing a second charging dock. I have both a back fenced lawn area and front lawn area with driveway. My problem is I also have two dogs in the fenced back lawn. So I can’t just leave the gate open for the yarbo to go through when it needs to recharge while in the front area (driveway snowplow). My plan is to have dock#1 in the back fenced lawn and dock#2 in the front area with a pathway between the docks which goes through the gate. When yarbo has finished with the back lawns it will return to the active dock#1 to charge and will end the work plan. I will then deactivate dock#1 while yarbo is on it, make dock#2 active, and then tell Yarbo to return to the dock to recharge, which is now active dock#2. The yarbo should now use the path to move from dock#1 to active dock#2. I will open and close the gate while yarbo moves on the path. If I forget, yarbo will stop due to an obstruction (closed gate) and wait until I open the gate. When it reaches the now active dock#2 it will start the recharge. I can start the work plan for the front areas where it will return to dock#2 to recharge as necessary. I can also reverse the order to move the yarbo again to the back side. Will/does this look like it will work? Thanks
I don’t know if it will work when you park at #1 charging station. and send it to charge on #2. Maybe you should drive it a little away from the charging station. Because when you turn off the charging stations it disappears from the map so there is only a pathway to an empty area.
but you can send it to mow grass at #2 charging station and then activate it then yarbo will use it instead of #1
I’m really interested in hearing if this will work. Seems like a good idea if it’s possible.
I have exactly that setup with the 2 yards separated by a gate and 2 DS’s, dogs and all. I do exactly as you described, enabling the other DS and calling for a recharge sends the Yarbo to the enabled one just fine. Make your path is long enough so it will miss the open gate and tighten the path offset, if it’s a smaller gate.
Thank you so much Bbeier for the reply. It is really great to know it will work. I’ll wait for hopefully a 10% off sale soon and go for it. Really thank you for your support and advise. Welles…
Will work fine enabling and disabling before starting a work plan in the zone where the dock is.
As for the discount. There is an AUG10 discount on some accessories right now. Not sure if the dock qualifies, but you could try it and see.
Thanks again bbeier and bryan. I also remembered to check the yarbo emails and found the AUG10. So I first drove my yarbo (Turtle) to the new second location to check signal.
Rover quality 0.91 - all good. So I just ordered the second docking station with AUG10 promo.
My snowblower module will arrive tomorrow. Trimmer is sometime later. Too much fun.
Thanks again.
I learned something today. Thanks for the tip
Now, I’m hoping they add, when you run a plan, the plan can enable an assigned DS. It’s a pain, having to edit the map, just to enable the correct DS.
Wondering if all this can be automated with Home Assistant integration. You would still need to open the gate, but even altering you to do that could be part of the Home Assistant automation.
Someone on FB already did this. Works great he said.
bbeirer I agree. An option should be available in each area of the plan to assign a particular docking station to return to. When you initially add a docking station (be it physical or virtual), the app should now be aware you have multiple docking stations. Then when adjusting the area settings, where you can set the speed, height, pattern, etc. you can select which docking station to return to when recharge is needed. When the core moves to the next area in the work plan that area will have the same or a different DS to go to. Last area has the final DS to end on. I guess this should be a suggestion for the app developers.
You may want to create a separate topic for this in the Suggestions & Feature Requests category. That will make it easier for us to track the idea and see how much interest there is from other users as well.
Thank you Yarbo-Forum Official.
Done
New Topic: Add an option to select a docking station in each map area settings added to Suggestions & Feature Requests.