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I don't want to "get a goat" ect, but I want to try to work out a robot lawn moving device which will automatically mow my lawn, perhaps on a daily basis.

My lawn isn't massive, but I only mowed it yesterday, and did it again this evening and it like removed half-a-tub of grass... grass grows too quickly. And if I leave it a week it's hard to mow, 2 weeks and it's a jungle.

There are a couple of companies which already sell Robot mow type of machines, but they are expensive £/$/£.

Here are a couple of examples from YouTube:

Sasha: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQkZHwQvA S0&mode=related&search=

Installation + operational: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NWavIQwo lo&NR=1

Any ideas if it would be possible to make one from scratch + any inspirational thoughts on how it could be done.

Small petrol engine ?
How to make sure it stays only on the grass?
How to make it mow lawn methodically?
Other stuff?

Any ideas how to go about it?
geoff2934 - Do you have a link to what that toy was please? Sounds interesting.
ROFL jeffgetswild. Some cool ideas.. and I also imagined the laser route but came to the same problem areas you did. I can see lasers being a way to do it in the future.

However I really am serious about this... I am going to get this done... make my own robot lawnmower. Research has now made me dismiss the current robot mowers because they only have 1 year guarantees.. and their rechargable battery can need replacing 3 to 4 years... and price I checked for replacement was £140.

So I'm gonna find a better way to make my own.. even if it has to follow a path I lay out via some wiring (not just the perimeter.

Start with a rechargeable electric mower. Then you must place a vertical barrier around the entire lawn.. The tricky part is to build a steering and guidance system so that when the mower bumps the barrier it will change direction. A simple one would operate like a Roomba vacuum and keep moving randomly until the lawn was mowed. The idea for the programmed, run it through once by hand, then let it operate automatically removes the need for a barrier. Instead you would need a flat edging to get all the way to the edge of the grass. The controls could be taken from an obsolete tape-controlled vertical milling machine. If you are handy with machines and tools this would be fun to try, however it may cost as much or more to build your own as to buy one, unless you are lucky at salvaging from junkyards.

Another guidance method might be a buried "invisible fence" as used for dogs. A signal in the buried wire would be followed by a receptor which would signal the wheels to steer. The steering for any type could be hydraulic, powered by a small electric motor, actuated by the type of controls used in model boats.

2007-07-23 18:00:53 by golfgirl

The world#39;s No 1 Robotic Lawn Mower. Save our planet by switching to a robot lawn mower.Did you know that a traditional lawn mower working for ...

I am currently building a robot lawn mower which I intend to build and sell from my garage (at least for now.) It is solar powered, waterproof and can work on anything from mud and sand to puddles of water.

I am aware there are many competitors out there, however these are horrendously expensive - some are only a few dollars short of two grand.

My mower costs around $35 to make. It is autonomous, versatile and requires no charging or refueling. Because it is solar powered I like to say it is "drop and go." It does require fencing but you can use any material that is higher than an inch.

Would you buy it? If so, for how much? Please be reasonable.

If it really works, I will add some basic features to tell the size of the lawn, so it does not go over. As for the price, it can easily double if you add the marketing, distribution, labor and any other miscellaneous costs to it. Contact me if you need to talk.

2008-01-25 23:15:09 by Redmondinator

Price: $35.00