Robotic cleaners and solar covers are mostly fine together.

Yes, but with one big caveat: you’ll want to take the cover off before you run the robot.

Most robotic pool cleaners are designed to move along the pool floor and walls, and a floating solar cover just sits on top. The robot can get tangled in the cover’s bubble sheet or trapped underneath if the cover shifts. Some robots with aggressive climbing ability will even crawl on top of the cover and push it around, messing up your water temperature and possibly tearing it.

The practical move: pull the cover off, let the robot do its thing for a couple hours, then put the cover back on. It takes 30 seconds to do that, and it saves you from having to fish a tangled robot out of the deep end.

If you absolutely must leave the cover on, make sure it’s secured with straps or a reel, and check that your robot doesn’t have a tendency to climb. But honestly? Just take it off.