sg3000 asks:
"Our lawnmower broke -- it's an electric, rechargeable Craftsman mulcher mower, and it seems the battery won't charge any longer. So, now we have to find a new lawnmower. My wife, being an environmentalist, listed her requirements: electric, zero emissions, and mulching. Luckily, she never said she didn't want robot to mow our lawn, so my solution so far is the Toro iMow. Unfortunately, the iMow isn't selling well; They only sold about 500 units last year and Friendly Robotics's US local company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. They've already dropped the price 50% since it's introduction, so I don't want to pick one of these up and then have Toro discontinue the model. Has anyone had any experience with one of these things? Does it really work? Will my lawn look good afterwards? Will I spend 3 hours watching it to make sure it doesn't run over a neighbor's kid? Does it have little arms that sprout out to run the edger? Should I look for something else, resigned that my dreams of a little robot to mow my lawn are still years away?"
"Apparently, the way it works is you lay out some conductive wire along the perimeter of your lawn, and let the iMow loose. It first mows the perimeter, and then it zig-zags through the inside until it completes your lawn. It looks a little random in action-- kind of like a teenager half-heartedly mowing the lawn after he's been told 5 times to, 'Do it already!'
After a little searching on Google, I learned a little about the mower. Apparently Toro rebrands the Robomower made by Friendly Robotics. There are some mpegs of the mower in action on their site. The movies are pretty funny to watch -- check out the "Handling a Tree". Unfortunately, the robot doesn't seem to be very efficient and there are no good shots of what the lawn looks like afterwards. There should also be a movie showing what the neighbors think when they see this thing in action."
Slashdot Mirror
my dreams of a little robot to mow my lawn are still years away?
For about $50.00/acre I could dress my little brother up in his R2 costume and send him over with the push mower...
Why not just use one of these instead?
g /P roduct.jhtml?PRODID=118&CATID=72&index=1
http://www.smithandhawken.com/jhtml/site/catalo
Zero emissions, mulching, no batteries or
electronics to break, and you get exercise
while mowing the lawn!
- No more than 5,000 square feet of lawn.
- Yard is flat, with slopes no greater than 15 degrees.
- Yard is free of excessive obstacles.
I dunno about your yard, but that's not even close to mine. I break all those rules, and I think most of the yards in my neighborhood do, too.www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
but yes, trying to tell a woman she's wrong is impossible
-- botsex is {grep;touch;strip;unzip;head;mount}
Unfortunately, the iMow isn't selling well ; They only sold about 500 units last year and Friendly Robotics's US local company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this year. They've already dropped the price 50% since it's introduction[...]
Umm... didn't you pretty much answer your own question? They dropped the price in half and still no one's buying it, and they're on the skids to boot.
Seems like the answer is pretty obvious to me...
WWJD? JWRTFM!!!
buy this if you want to be environmentally friendly!!
So, how about you look for a new battery rather than a super robot slave army? I mean, super robot slave armies are nice, but in the end rather hard to find at your local hardware store. Also, let's say you do go for the robotic minion strategy of lawn management. If you're worried about your robotic minion being discontinued, and the price has been dropped 50%, why not just buy two and keep the second as a spare?
And, just for some extra sodium chloride for your wounds, have you considered the environmental consequences of chunking the whole damn mower or the battery (full of heavy metals) compared to the environmental impact of a quality gasoline-driven mower that'll last longer? Or even just nuking your lawn and putting in wild flowers or a rock garden? You'd be amazed how much pollution the average picket-fence-and-one-point-five-kids lawn contributes to your local watershed in the form of storm runoff becuase of all the crap you have to put on it to make it look "nice" ("nice" here evaluating to the traditional standard of perfection and control accepted by society, not natural chaotic beauty). You need to evaluate your real goals; is your priority the environment, a nice lawn, or no time spent on lawn maintenance?
News for Geeks in Austin, TX
Someone on K5 got one of these and reviewed it in their journal.
"My wife, being an environmentalist, listed her requirements: electric, zero emissions..."
His wife, being yet another NIMBY-mentalist, prefers that it be electric, so that the 'zero emissions' instead will be sulfur emissions at the coal fired plant, or long term radioactive waste at a repository, rather than that awful gasoline smell that hurts her nose.
(NIMBY=not in my back yard)
For example, a team of U.S. and European scientists recently found that mowed grass emits hydrocarbons at a level of 20 to 60 parts per billion--which is comparable to the level released by the gasoline-powered mowers cutting the grass. In an article published this year in Environmental Science & Technology, the team reported: "The results of these experiments suggest that common lawn mowing releases substantial amounts of reactive VOCs and should be considered in urban air-quality control strategies."
I hold it, that a little rebellion, now and then, is a good thing. -- Thomas Jefferson
Doesn't anyone else think lawns are just a bit silly? What's wrong with forest floor? Plant some nice big shade trees, don't rake the leaves, have a wild flower spot, some herbs and veggies.. whatever, all done, and your only emission is oxygen.
Our relatively new home has made me feel like a grass farmer all summer. What an ass I feel like spending hours upon hours farming the perfect turf.. with NO CROP. We are buying 8 large locally indigenous trees this fall and roto-tilling much of the back yard. The goal is to have an attractive semi-wild looking area that is really a food and flower producing garden, and where it isn't, it'll just be good old forest floor. I will feel a lot better about watering that.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Batteries are only good for a certain number of charging cycles, and/or other limits based on the various technologies.
Go to a battery place, there are such things now, and bring your old battery in for recycling, and take back a new one.
Far better ecologically than discarding and replacing.
If you use a pushreel lawnmower, they use no gas, oil, or electricity, and dont make any noise. They don't mulch, so your wife will need to make a compost pile, or just leave the clippings where they fall, which is not a problem if you mow often enough. Sometimes primitive technology can solve modern problems.
The Uncoveror: It's the real news.
You're not married, are you?
I can see why.
That's hardly environmentally friendly. And it also doesn't speak well for the technical ability of a slashdotter. The obvious thing to do is not to buy a new lawnmower, but to replace the rechargeable battery.
for maintaining grassy areas. Cows are too big for most people to manage. Sheep aren't good loners, so most small families prefer a goat. You can also get milk from them and make cheese, provided you haven't loaded that lawn up with diazanon like a dope.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
Actually, hydro plants emit butchered fish and change the cycle of fresh water entering the oceans.
I am quite concerned with the affect large-scale wind power generation would have on world weather patterns. Windmills slow down the wind . . . maybe that wind is doing something important.
-Peter
If your wife is really so much of an environmentalist, she'd be out there every week breaking her back with a nice clean old-fashioned manual rotary mower. It's good exercise too.
Why not rub it in by purchasing a big old 15 HP gas-driven monster. Make sure to get it second-hand, and make sure that it belches plenty of toxins and leaves soot everywhere. Also be sure never to change the spark plug(s) or perform more than the minimum maintenance required to keep it running poorly.
Environmentalist indeed.
One future, two choices. Oppose them or let them destroy us.
I don't know where you can buy one but this looks promising. Solar powered, zero emissions, nearly silent, fully automatic. You just buy it, bury the wire and let it go. No mention of price and how much of a slope it can handle. Max lawn size is 1200 m2. Definitely puts the Toro to shame on the enivornmentally friendly aspect.
They handle slopes. They aren't limited in acreage. They don't need to be recharged. They convert grass to fertilizer. Your kids will love them.
And besides, you'll have a *goat*! There are tons of people in "Do Cyborgs Dream of Electric Sheep" that would kill to be in your shoes!
May we never see th
The first time this manages to mow over someone's foot, the company is going to get sued, pay out the ass and then drop it like a hot potato.
Image recognition is cool, but there are a lot of places to perfect it on other than on self-propelled things with high-speed blades.
I mean, make the same thing but with a broom or vacuum cleaner for indoors or something. Indoors would be flatter, anyway.
May we never see th
My 72yo mother uses a reel mower, and she loves it. It's easy to push, does a great job with the grass, and is quiet. You have to mow a little more often, since it mulches the clippings and doesn't work as well in long grass. Great solution, though.
This isn't as much "normalization" as it is "don't take so many drugs when you're designing tables."
Arguments in the robo-mowers favor were that he has a simple small yard, few obstructions (house, two trees, sometimes car in driveway, never any toys, kids, pets, etc.) His land is fairly private so there was little fear of the mower being robo-napped. The biggest feature was he has little time at home, a passion for gadgets, and grass 'stuff' triggers his allergies.
Those pointed out the mower does a moderately good job. It doesn't hurt anything but it's coverage isn't optimized, once done following the perimeter it pretty much goes on random and trundles around the yard without any apparent strategy. Thus while the drunk walk does eventually cover all of the yard it's also quite inefficient at doing so, may mow the same spot a dozen times while the wedge next to it remains untouched for a long time.
'Course efficiency isn't all that important as long as he's not the one out there doing this all. And as long as it is sunny out the mower just keeps going on its own so he usually simply puts it out on a sunny morning and comes home after work to find the yard clipped & reclipped. Pop the 'bot back in the garage and the lawn is ready for the weekend.
However, he is in a particularly good situation for the mower. The theft concern would be a big one for most folks; the fear of some bored kids coming along and "liberating" the 'bot. There's also the point his yard is absurdly simple with few obstructions, nothing that the 'bot could ever accidentally mow-over. Also his yard is sunny, small, and the grass is never allowed to get tall.
Cost-wise it's pretty much a trade-off. So far the mower is competitive with having a lawn crew come by once a week. On the other hand they'd also edge the walk, fertilize, leaf-blow, etc. Should the mower last another season or two without repairs it'll have justified itself mostly. Should something break, well, it's not like the lawnmower-repair/bait-shop down the street knows how to fix one of these...
My own parents go the lawn-crew route and are quite happy. Dad isn't up to mowing the yard and they do a mostly good job. The lawn always looks great; unfortunately they've damaged trees by nicking their bark regularly and occasionally over-edge and take out the garden border plants. On the plus side they keep it all looking like a golf-course, don't mind putting away a forgotten sprinkler and hose, take care of the leaves in the fall.
In another buddies case he went with an old fashioned push mower when his gas one died. He says the effort is about the same, while the gas mower had powered wheels it took a lot of effort to maneuver so overall there was little effort change in the mowing. However he says it's a lot nicer following the snickity-snick of the mechanical then the roar, dust, and fumes of the gas one.
As to no-lawn - in some cases that's an option but in many it's not. There are often local laws about keeping up one's property and the hassle and ill-will of being different may not be worth it. Also the effort and cost of a more 'natural' look is often about the same as the green desert. Finally resale value of a house is greater with the traditional grass lawn then with other more eco-friendly or labor-saving alternatives.
Oh, and the old hire-a-kid? I tried that at my old house - none were interested. Nobody I know has any kids in their neighborhoods interested either. One acquaintance did tell a story of a new-to-the-neighborhood kid coming by asking but as his dad had just bought the house with the money from a large & very dubious job-injury claim the fellow declined.
I don't read ACs: If a post isn't worth so much as a nom de plume to its author then I wont bother either.
Why is an environmentalist spending money and gas to chop up happily growing natural plants instead of leaving them alone?
Come to think of it, why are you growing *grass* anyway? That isn't natural for most locales...
May we never see th
I wonder what kind of loss of power occurs, though. I'd bet it's greater with a rechargeable mower.
May we never see th
for specifics..
- We have a house with 1 acre backed against forest. Built in the 20's and newly remodeled. No homeowners assoc. (i.e. We refuse to live in a neighborhood with a name - usually hot and treeless, and the thing the neighborhood was named after isn't there anymore because they plowed it down to build the neighborhood) We have a small front yard kept nice to keep the neighbors happy - takes 12 minutes to mow. Landscaping, rocks, cobblestones, RR ties, grill, deck and pool around the house. Large treeless yard out back being converted to "attractive semi-wild" looking area - remove 90% of the grass there, leave paths etc.
I wasn't saying NO grass, I was saying having a large lawn is silly unless croquet is a priority. I don't know about kids these days (none of my own yet) but all through my childhood our yard sat empty while all the neighborhood kids and I were across the street playing in the 300 acre forest - which was infinitely more interesting than the vast green carpet behind the house.
"Having seen homes that have similar setups... they look awful when next to a decently-manicured lawn."
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (just a random yard.. very cool site).
Operator, give me the number for 911!
If I was going to by the iMow, it is obvious from reviews and such that while the mower may work, it works in a really crappy, non-intelligent manner. Just a random walk, with simple sensors. I would buy one of those, rip out the standard "electronics" (something tells me that the iMow doesn't really have a real computer in it), and replace them with a good micro-controller, add some good sensors (I think it only has a simple non-directional "bump" sensor - I would replace that with an array of bump sensors around the perimeter). Leave the wire, then add code the controller to tell it to go around the perimeter, measure the distance, then make another lap inside the first one (with a few inches of overlap). If obstacles are encountered, add code to go around the obstacle, but map it for later - the code would be similar to a generalised paint/fill algorithm...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
My friend's dad bought one, and it was all fine and dandy. Until he woke up at 3am during a thunderstorm and saw the damn thing mowing the lawn. Anyway, he returned it.
Need Free Juniper/NetScreen Support? JuniperForum
I have a Friendly Robots model, which is the same as the iMow. I have used is for a few years now and find it very useful in the open back lawn. It is a few feet long and so does not work well in the narrow strip between the houses. In automatic mode it's safty software turns it off on hills greater than 15 degrees, but I can use the game pad like control to manually drive it and have set the wire to have it avoid the hill. I leave it out many Saturdays or at night and go shopping or make dinner and it is done when I return.
It's more a 80% solution, a way to reduce the work than a complete solutions, your will still need a edge trimmer. I normally in a wet summer put it out every few days and run the normally mower over the edges and strip between the house every two weeks. There are some OS bugs in the firmware, but I think the product is generally good and I recommend it.
It is very safe with lots of sensors safty features and warning lights. The quality of cut is very nice.
Ever seen a lead-acid battery production plant?
They are environmental nightmares. Heavy metals like lead have a habit of leaking into the water table and destroying the ground.
Recycling batteries help alot -- but I would still argue that the impact of lead pollution, plus pollution created by coal plants is far worse than running a well-maintained gas engine.
Conformity is the jailer of freedom and enemy of growth. -JFK
http://www.opei.org/newsroom/story_display.php?id= 30
Is a good link for this, since it is from a group that is actually trying to portray lawnmowers as clean. However, look closely at their numbers:
According to them, a walk-behind mower is used an average of 25 hours per year, and a car is driven an average of 14,000 miles per year.
In two years, the mower produces 2.1lbs. of emissions, and the car produces 20lbs. They go on to claim that this means mowers are cleaner, but the difference in amount of time in use in their example is staggering. At an average of 50mph, a car driven 14,000 miles per year is in use for 280 hours, compared to the measly 25 the mower is used.
280 hrs. / 25 hrs. = 11.2
2.1lbs. * 11.2 = 23.52lbs.
So a lawnmower is producing more emissions per hour of usage THAN A FREAKING CAR, according to the stats given by the OPEI, an obviously pro-lawnmower group.
Since a gas mower produces more emissions per hour than a car does, I highly doubt that the iMow produces more net emissions than a gas mower, despite using 10x the power. (How much power is your car using? Lots.)
Gas lawmowers are fuel-efficient but extremely dirty.
But you are correct in stating that there are even better solutions than this-- I recall somebody making a solar-powered robot mower, too, and I will personally stick with an unpowered rotary mower.