RE: [mowbot] A Basic Platform

Doug Smith (dsmith nospam at execpc.com)
Wed, 13 May 1998 14:24:44 -0500

>> I'm trying not to think like I'm building a standard lawn mower. (I
>> already have a self propelled gas mower rigged up with a cable winding
>> on a
>> spool to mow large circles.)
>That is pretty funny. I'll bet the neighbors talk about you. :)

The first time I did this I had neighbors on two sides lined up at the
fence to watch. One of them even had guests over who ran and got their
camera to take pictures! Whenever I meet new people in the neighborhood I
hear "aren't you the one with the lawn mower that goes by itself?" Too
much fun. I can't wait to have something more intellegent running around
the yard.

>So my idea for a basic design (which is still a very rough idea and may
>fall a little outside of my own definition of small) is something
>similar to Dave's idea. A square made from angle irons (those extruded
>aluminum or iron or whatever 'L' shaped bars in case some one doesn't

Is this something hardware stores usually carry? I remember seeing steel
angle irons locally but don't recall aluminum.

A friend tells me that there are aluminum rods available at electrical
supply stores. I'm not sure what they're made for but he uses them to
build all sorts of rigs to mount video cameras on motorcycles and such.
I'll try to get the details and let everyone know.

--
Doug Smith <dsmith nospam at execpc.com>
<http://www.execpc.com/~dsmith>