MOVA Z60: Odd Navigation on Dark Area Rug

Z60 Crop‑Circle Settings enabled?

I’ve run into some strange navigation behavior with my MOVA Z60 on a dark area rug, and I’m curious if anyone else has seen something similar. It’s almost like the robot is trying to draw crop circles.

On one section of the rug, the Z60 climbs up and over without hesitation--smooth and confident, exactly what you’d expect. But just a few feet away, on the same rug, it suddenly loses all composure. It will stall, back up, spin, and then start doing circles on the surrounding carpet like it’s trying to recalibrate.

In another spot, it behaves as if there’s an invisible obstacle—steering around an area where absolutely nothing exists. No cables, no shadows, no bumps. Just… phantom avoidance.  And on a bump in the area rug, it loses its bearings.

What makes this even more interesting is that the rug isn’t wildly patterned or high‑pile. It’s just dark. My best guess is that the combination of color, texture, and lighting is confusing one or more of the sensors, but the inconsistency is what throws me. One part of the rug is totally fine, and another part sends Emo (our Z60) into interpretive dance mode.

I’m still testing different lighting conditions and approach angles, but if anyone has tips, theories, or similar experiences, I’d love to compare notes. The Z60 has been great overall, but this rug behavior is one of the more puzzling quirks I’ve seen so far.

Disclaimer: Stock MOVA photo used in thumbnail.  And, I received this Z60 to participate in MOVA's Z60 Get & Create Event #GetYourZ60

just noticed, all of your videos page is so eye-catching

Hello,

Based on the video you provided, the issue is very likely caused by the carpet being relatively thin. When the robot is cleaning, the carpet may get lifted or pushed into a pile. Once the carpet bunches up and blocks the robot’s camera or movement path, the robot may interpret this as an obstacle and begin circling to avoid it.

In addition, the black areas on the carpet may also affect the robot’s recognition accuracy. Since black surfaces can absorb the infrared light emitted by the robot, this may lead to incorrect detection results.

We recommend turning off the “Smart Obstacle Recognition” feature in the settings and securing the carpet firmly to the floor to see if this improves the situation.

We hope the above suggestions are helpful.

How did you change your thumbnail/make it custom?