Live data from Hacker News

OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

github.com

51–60 of 200 posts

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#53

I have been dreaming of small solar robots that quietly trim the grass all day. Static blades pulled across the grass in short bursts. RC orchestration guided by security cameras.

Wouldn't the small solar robot have to move pretty fast in order for the blade to be able to cut through grass? I can't imagine cutting grass very effectively by just (manually) dragging a knife through it, it will just bend out of the way instead of cut won't it?

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#55

This is really neat, but it seems like the one supported mower isn't officially available in North America. Has anyone here made this project work with a mower that's easily available here?

There are a number of supported mowers now, including ones sold in the USA, and the number will increase with the upcoming V2 board! Really all the activity is on the discord server -- the GitHub projects are secondary so it can seem much less active (and information is less up to date) if you look there

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#57

I run an Open mower on my 1400 square meter lawn in the USA. AMA. (ps. If you are interested make sure to go to the discord instead of just reading the docs or GitHub pages -- that is where all the activity is!)

Nice!

How much time did it take you from the moment you started the project to the point where it fell like it was up & running?

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#58
post #7

Here's what robotic mowers blades look like to understand how they work - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/676d76e61268a4... We just got a Sunseeker X7 to do ~4 acres of grassed area but probably ~2 acres will be garden beds and roads etc The hardware is there, it's all software now. People talk about updates and the robot improved amazingly, comments like - "these scuffs are from pre-update" These are E…

Please don't run them at night to protect animals like hedgehogs and others that are active at night.

[dead]

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#59
post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because before your know it your very much open source company called Prusa will end up being competed with by subsidized stuff from the east based on your own work.

I don't belive in "open source", I believe in free software. So what? They make something better, so I take what they did and improve my product. It's not my problem if someone from the Big Red East does something with my work as long as they share it too.

Ideally, yes, but ideals go out the window when your direct competitor is being unfairly subsidized, selling their products at a loss to steal your lunch and you realize that your continued good will on the software side will be the end of your existence.

Re: OpenMower – An open source lawn mower

#60
post #7

Here's what robotic mowers blades look like to understand how they work - https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/676d76e61268a4... We just got a Sunseeker X7 to do ~4 acres of grassed area but probably ~2 acres will be garden beds and roads etc The hardware is there, it's all software now. People talk about updates and the robot improved amazingly, comments like - "these scuffs are from pre-update" These are E…

The wildlife (like hedgehogs) will feel very audited when they get sliced up by a razorblade, run over, and can barely drag themselves off your lawn to bleed out throughout hours of pain. If they don't bleed out, they often end up mutilated, unable to properly eat, walk, etc.

Nice wildlife auditing. Hedgehogs are endangered in lots of areas of the world. Run your robot lawnmower during the day.

If you don't like that mental image, you should feel for the people working at hedgehog rescues

Post reply on HN