Paul has taken this in a different direction than I did : - )
I think everyone using this forum would agree that Zuchetti should have made this platform more open - as it would be nice to tweak both the hardware software. While I used to be a tinkerer, I seem to have much less energy to apply in that direction now. Also, since the Lawnbott is expensive, technological, and proprietary, I want to make sure I don't get into any warranty issues if something does need to be replaced (maybe RobotLady could weigh in on what does and does not void any warranty). I would love to be able to control the robot remotely with a PC or more powerful remote, and I'd really like to get sensor data back... maybe after the warranty has run out. For now I limit my hacking to the more basic components, and to external methods to influence the robot.
In that regard, and as a follow-up to my initial post:
Switched wire loops:
I have implemented two wire loops, and thy are connected through a DPDT toggle switch that I flip daily or whenever one loop needs more attention. My property is 1 acre with hills - but given the house, driveway, and mulched beds, the robot mows about half of that. I initially planned (and tried some of) a single loop with 4 zones - but the 2 loop system offers more advantages (which I could outline in a separate topic). As I first mentioned, I plan to control the switching of the loops with an Insteon relay switch, which I will locate in a weatherproof box at the point where I plug in the robot's charger.
Location tracking:
The robot DOES get stuck, and I don't always check to see if it has returned at the end of the day - so this is where technology could help. There are a new group of tiny stick-on devices (Button TrackR, Tile, Twine) on KickStarter that look promising. Button TrackR is the size of a quarter, uses a coin-cell battery, and uses bluetooth to communicate with an iphone app. Some of the gadgets use wifi instead of bluetooth. I'm hoping to leverage one of these devices.
Rain sensing:
I still don't have any great solution for rain. The on-board rain sensor works, but the options are limited. In a deluge, the robot still goes out, and then comes back. I'd like to keep it from going out at all in the rain, and even keep it from going out when the grass is still wet, since all the wet grass clippings make more of a mess - they get compacted and the robot needs to be cleaned more often and more thoroughly. Even if I could come up with some sensor that measures rain, grass moisture, etc and gives a yes/no if it's ok to mow, I still could not limit the robot from going out without wiring into it with some additional receiver. It might be ok to toggle power on the charger/transmitter - even if the robot was still powered on and in the charger - since the voltage drop would not be significant over the one or two days that the robot was held back. I could test the idea of switching to "no loop". More work is needed!
Moti
