In this paper, a noble second stage hetero-estimator is used for positioning error detection in mobile robot. Previous methods are either expensive in the case of positioning error correction or not able to detect positioning error. To overcome the latter shortage, the positioning error detection is performed using second stage hetero-estimator in motor model of mobile robot without any additional costs. A Kalman filter in the estimator gets the residual of motor current and an adaptive self-tunning filter checks the whiteness of the residual. Some simulation results show the possibility of the proposed method.