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Back up, restore or replace a Yarbo core

A Yarbo core can fail or be swapped under warranty. With a core backup on your computer, you do not start over when a replacement core arrives.

Where it lives: Under each robot in Settings, Your Yarbo Automatic runs in Settings, Scheduled backup
The short version Under each robot in Settings, Your Yarbo, press Back up now while the core is awake, or turn on the Scheduled backups on switch in Settings, Scheduled backup. If a core cannot be reached, open Replace core next to that robot and press Save last known copy. When the replacement arrives, add it with Find another robot, dock it, press Restore from a backup, click Preview restore, and press Confirm restore.

Why a core backup matters

The core holds your yard map, zone settings, and work plans. A replacement arrives with a new serial number and an empty setup. Without a backup, you have to redraw every zone, retune every attachment, and rebuild your plans. With a core backup, Yardstick puts your setup onto the new core.

Three kinds of backups in Yardstick Core backups on this page save one robot's map, settings, and plans. Map backups in the map editor's Backups & restore panel use the 10 slots on the robot. The Yardstick data backup in Settings, Backup saves Yardstick's database and job history.

Back up a core right now

Look under each robot in Settings, Your Yarbo.

  1. Wake the robot and press Back up now

    Press Back up now next to that robot, or open the Replace this core panel and press Back up everything.

  2. Check the result

    Yardstick tells you the backup was saved and what it holds. The Replace this core panel confirms: Backup is complete. Map, area settings, work plans, and Yardstick settings are all saved on this computer.

  3. Re-run if anything was missed

    If a part could not be read, Yardstick marks what was missed. Wake the robot and run the backup again.

What a full backup holds

Yard map
Your map: work areas, no-go zones, pathways, patrol lines and dead ends, plus vision zones, geofences, and charging points.
Zone and route settings
Work area and pathway settings for every attachment, plus patrol line and dead-end settings.
Work plans
Every work plan on the core, with its areas and order.
Yardstick settings
Robot name, programs, quick run, mowing direction, seasons, plan order, zone schedules and conditions, aerial alignment, drone photo, and logbook.

Scheduled backups

Open Settings, Scheduled backup to run backups automatically.

  1. Turn on the Scheduled backups on switch

    Tick your cores under Robots to back up and leave Include new robots automatically on.

  2. Choose how often and when

    Pick Every day, Weekly on the days you pick, or Monthly, and set Time.

  3. Set retention under Keep

    Choose Keep all or the newest 7, 14, 30, or 90. Manual backups and the newest full backup of each core are always kept.

  4. Save a portable ZIP copy to another folder

    Pick a folder under Also save a copy to and press Test. On Windows, use a \\server\share path, not a mapped drive letter.

  5. Catch up missed runs and get failure notices

    Leave Run a missed backup when Yardstick starts and Tell me if a backup fails on, then press Save.

Only while idle
Yardstick waits if the robot is busy, then backs up once it is idle.
Missed runs
If your computer or Yardstick was off, the missed backup runs next time Yardstick starts.
Failure notices
Yardstick alerts you if a backup fails or misses parts, and shows the last and next run next to each robot.
Trimming old backups
In Settings, Storage under Backups, use Delete backups older than. The newest full backup of each core, plan snapshots, and restore reports are always kept.

Download or upload a backup

Under Backups for this core and Backups from removed cores, press Download for a .zip file (with your drone photo) or Delete. On another computer, press Upload a backup in Settings, Your Yarbo or Settings, Scheduled backup to load a .zip or .json file (up to 50 MB).

If you do not have a backup

If your core cannot be reached, use Save last known copy.

  1. Open the Replace this core panel

    Click Replace core next to the broken robot in Settings, Your Yarbo.

  2. Press Save last known copy

    Yardstick builds a backup from the records on this computer and tells you what it saved.

What Save last known copy can and cannot contain

What it CAN containFROM THIS COMPUTER
Yard map: Your map: work areas, no-go zones, pathways, patrol lines and dead ends.
Area and dead-end settings: The latest work area settings for every attachment and dead-end settings saved during a map backup.
Work plans and Yardstick settings: The newest work plans read from the robot, plus your programs, schedules, drone photo, and logbook.
What it CANNOT containLIVE BACKUP ONLY
No pathway settings and no patrol line settings: Those are only captured in a live full backup.
Nothing never recorded here, or changed since: Anything Yardstick never recorded on this computer, and nothing changed in the Yarbo app since Yardstick last read the robot.
What about the robot's own map backups? If the old core still answers, check its 10 manual snapshots in the map editor's Backups & restore panel (see Map backups). Restore one there first if needed, then press Back up now in Settings, Your Yarbo. Map backups on the old robot do not move to a new core on their own.

Before you remove or send back the broken core

Check these three items before unbolting the old core, shipping it back, or removing it from Yardstick.

  1. Take a backup now, or save a last known copy

    In the Replace this core panel, press Back up everything if the core answers, or Save last known copy if it does not.

  2. Download a ZIP copy and keep it off the computer

    Click Download under Backups for this core and copy the .zip file to another drive or cloud folder.

  3. Do not remove the core until a backup exists

    Keep the old core in Yardstick until your backup is listed and downloaded. You can add the replacement core without removing the old one first.

What Yardstick does when you click Remove this core… When you click Remove this core…, Yardstick saves a Last known copy first and verifies on disk that it holds the map, saved area and dead-end settings, work plans, and logbook before deleting that core's history. If it cannot be verified, Yardstick refuses to remove the core. Removed cores' backups stay under Backups from removed cores.

Restore onto the replacement core

Set up the replacement core with Yarbo first, add it to Yardstick, and restore your backup.

  1. Set up the replacement core in the Yarbo app

    Install the new core, add it to your Yarbo account in the Yarbo app, and set up your dock there. Yardstick never writes charging points during a restore.

  2. Add the new core to Yardstick

    In Settings, Your Yarbo, press Find another robot (and Check my Yarbo account) so Yardstick picks up the new serial number.

  3. Park the robot on its dock and leave it idle

    Dock the new core and leave it idle. If it is off the dock or working, Yardstick stops: Dock the target core and finish its current job before restoring. Nothing else was changed.

  4. Choose your backup and press Preview restore

    Next to the new robot in Settings, Your Yarbo, press Restore from a backup, pick your backup, and click Preview restore.

  5. Check the preview

    Yardstick checks that the map references agree within 0.20 m, or that the new core has an empty map. If your base station moved or the dock was re-surveyed in a different spot, Yardstick stops and warns that a different base station or re-surveyed dock cannot be restored. The preview shows what is already there and what will be added.

  6. Press Confirm restore and keep the robot docked

    Press Confirm restore. Yardstick shows Restoring. Keep the robot docked. and then opens the Restore report.

What the restore does on your new core

Takes two safety copies first
Before changing anything, Yardstick saves a Full backup of the new core on your computer and takes a safety map backup on the robot itself. If all 10 manual map backup slots on the robot are full of backups you named, it stops and asks you to delete one in the map editor's Backups list first. If either safety copy fails, nothing is changed.
Adds only what is missing
Restore merges into the new core and never deletes anything on the robot. Existing and extra shapes stay; only missing shapes are added.
Checks each write on the robot
Every added shape, zone setting, and work plan is read back right after it is written. Anything rejected is marked The robot did not keep this change. If the robot leaves the dock or its map or plans change during the restore, Yardstick stops with The target map or plans changed. Preview the backup again.
Moves Yardstick settings across
Yardstick copies your programs, quick run, mowing direction, seasons, plan order, zone schedules and conditions, aerial alignment, drone photo, robot name, and logbook to the new core.
Ends with a Restore report
Every item is listed in the Restore report with a checkmark or cross, including anything marked Not recorded in this backup.

What to check after restoring

  • Read the Restore report from top to bottom. Check any line with a cross, such as The robot did not keep this change. or Not recorded in this backup.
  • Check your dock in the Yarbo app. Yardstick never writes charging points during a restore. If the new core had no dock on its map, the report reminds you: Dock: set up in the Yarbo app.
  • If you restored from a Last known copy, check your pathway and patrol line settings. Those settings are only in a live full backup, so check them in the map editor or the Yarbo app before running a job.
  • Review your zones, work plans, and programs. Check the map editor, Plans page, and Scheduler on the new core, then press Back up now so it has its own fresh Full backup.

Keep your backups current

Keep your backups current
  • Keep current backups, and make a new one after every change you care about. Whenever you redraw a zone, tune your area settings, or update your work plans and schedules, press Back up now under each robot in Settings, Your Yarbo (alongside your scheduled backups).
  • Yarbo can change the robot's firmware, and the settings it keeps, at any time. Firmware updates come from Yarbo and can change how the robot stores or accepts map shapes, zone parameters, and work plans.
  • Always keep at least one backup made on your current firmware. After your robot receives a firmware update, take a fresh Full backup right away so you have a copy that matches the firmware your robot is running now.
  • Some things will not be backwards compatible. A backup made on older firmware may not restore everything onto a core on newer firmware, and we cannot guard against changes Yarbo makes. When the robot rejects an older setting or change, the Restore report says what did not go back (The robot did not keep this change.) so you can set those items directly.

Something in your Restore report did not go back, or your old core cannot be reached? Open a support ticket on the help desk and send your log from Settings, Support with Send diagnostics to Yardstick.

Related

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Yardstick data backup

Back up and restore Yardstick's database and recorded job history.
🗺

Map backups

The robot's 10 map snapshots in the map editor's Backups & restore panel.
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Diagnostics

Keep Yardstick updated and send us a log when something looks wrong.
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Help desk

Open a support ticket if you need a hand with a core swap.
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