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I have a robot lawn mower that is wire guided. Instead of the traditional lawn mowers that basically cut the grass in all directions (making a sloppy cut patter
by anonymous5133 8y ago
I have a robot lawn mower that is wire guided. Instead of the traditional lawn mowers that basically cut the grass in all directions (making a sloppy cut pattern) my mower knows how to cut in straight lines so you get a traditional cut pattern. It also has the ability to dump the grass cuttings into a composting bin.
Basically, I put down wire guide cable into the lawn and into the cement as well. It is all powered by electricity and has a little docking station. When it is scheduled to cut it simply rolls out, goes to the lawn and starts cutting on. After a pre-determined point, it will go back to the compost bin to dump the grass cuttings before going back to cut the lawn again. After it is done with all the cuts it simply returns back to the charging station.
I am trying to add better features to it like weather detection. If rain is scheduled then it will cut the lawn early and then delay cutting it again until the lawn is dry. I am also working on adding an edger component and a weed wacker competent so it can handle those tasks as well. Pretty much, my goal is to have a fully automated robot lawn mower when I am done with this project. So far it only cuts the grass and dumps the waste. I think this wire guided method is far superior to the autonomous robot mowers because most people's yards are in static arrangements that rarely change. So it is better to just add in the wire permanently so you get a perfect cut every time.
- dhumph 8y agoDo you have any information that would allow some to build something similar? Would love to see the setup!
- lgregg 8y agoI second this request.
- Deinos 8y agoI would also love to see a blog post on this!
- amingilani 8y agoI'd love a tutorial!
- jsd1982 8y agoDid you modify an existing mower? What make/model was it and what modifications did you make to it?
- twblalock 8y agoHas it ever chopped up a squirrel, or the neighbor's cat?
- keyle 8y agoI'm no expert, but Cats and Squirrels would be pretty good at hearing and seeing danger, even feeling vibrations nearby. I doubt they'd get caught by a lawn mower at walking speed.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- sokoloff 8y agoI’ve mowed (personally and as a summer job when younger) for almost 40 years. Animals of all sorts seem to avoid the mower when already runnng. As a kid, I gave our family cat a close scalping. It was late fall and we were picking up leaves with the mower. After a lunch break, I fired up the mower and the cat shot out from underneath making an awful noise and headed for the woods. We assumed she was fatally injured until two/three days later when she came walking back up the sidewalk, sporting a close shave on one part of her head, but otherwise seeming uninjured. She got plenty of her favorite food that day!
- brokenmachine 8y agoI would like a tutorial on how to make one that can chop up the neighbor's cat please.
- roel_v 8y ago(not OP, have regular robo mower) Animals are no problem, they get out of the way themselves. Children leaving toys out (or socks), or branches that have been blown off trees, or chestnuts - those make for some scary noises.
- snow_mac 8y agoI want to buy one, or atleast the guide on how to build it!!!!!!!!
- ramshorns 8y agoDoes the wire ever get in your way or trip you when you're walking around the lawn?
- INTPenis 8y agoJust a slight warning if you live in an area of occasional thunderstorms. A friend of a friend here in southern sweden was left with a nasty burn along the length of a robotic lawnmower wire he had buried in the lawn when lightning struck and jumped from a tree to this wire. That was only one wire that I forget the purpose of, perhaps as electronic barrier. I can't imagine the mayhem of a grid of wires being struck with the same misfortune.
- Numberwang 8y agoMy fathers automower got destroyed when a moose decided to stomp it. Also in southern Sweden.
- dolessdrugs 8y agoSouthern Sweden is a dangerous place for automowers.
- atmoz 8y agoReminds me of a similar incident in Norway, caught on tape: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho8o92Ro-Ig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho8o92Ro-Ig Some CS students even made a game based on the hilarious video, where you play as the moose and must eat apples while defending against incoming lawnmowers: https://joelspeanuts.itch.io/elgspillet https://joelspeanuts.itch.io/elgspillet
- Numberwang 8y agoWow, that is probably exactly what happened. Funnily enough it looks very much like my parents place.
- INTPenis 8y agoMoose are huge and scary. I've heard more stories about smaller animals like badgers attacking the lawnmowers. Or at least making noises at the lawnmowers whenever it approached the lawn boundary where they were hiding.
- avoutthere 8y agoHave you documented the build process? If not, can you tell us more about the parts you used and the online resources you consulted?
- SnowingXIV 8y agoPlease do a writeup on this! One of the reasons I've been dragging my feet on home ownership is I'm not a fan of lawn mowing. Now if only you could also automate shoveling/snowblowing.
- sjg007 8y agoYou can! Just hire a teenager or landscaper. :) Otherwise get a ride along mower that you can put a plow on in the winter. Pretty simple. Also depending on your car you can put a plow on it too.
- gkfasdfasdf 8y agoYou could try https://lawnguru.co https://lawnguru.co. My lawn was mowed within 20 minutes of signing up.
- onychomys 8y agoI've priced heated driveways (I live in Minnesota), because I also hate snowblowing. It looks like in order to replace my current normal driveway with a heated one, it'd be about $30k-$40k. I can put up with a lot of cold days pushing the snowblower for that price. :(
- cweagans 8y agoHusqvarna has a pretty excellent roomba-for-your-yard system. 100% autonomous. It's somewhat expensive, but if that's the only thing that's holding up a home purchase for you, it might be worth at least looking at. Alternatively, you can probably whip something up with some kind of frankenstein assembly of an electric wheelchair base, an electric lawnmower, a Raspberry Pi, and a camera. https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/ https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/
- JoblessWonder 8y agoHave you run into issues with compaction due to always mowing in exactly the same lines? I ran into that issue so now I have two different patterns I use (for the record: I am not a wire guided lawn mower.)