Re: [mowbot] cutting

robin nospam at acm.org
Tue, 24 Sep 1996 19:32:19 +0100

Monta Elkins <Monta nospam at vt.edu> wrote:
> While new cutting technology _may_ be interesting (and energy
> efficient) I move we stick to existing technology.
I agree. But the comb and disk thing is used in an existing commercial
product, so it isn't really cutting edge:-)

> I got power, weight and cut width on 3 different type of
> existing electical cutting devices...
> 1) string trimmers.
> 2) Hedge trimmers (side cut blades)
> 3) "scissor trimmers" with multiple blades ("forward" cutting)
> I'll post them when I get the chance.
Excellent. This will be very useful.

> Can sombody find weight/power/width for electric
> bladed (conventional) mowers?
I have a Flymo (blade and fan rotating fast about a vertical axis under
a hovercraft-style skirt), and though is far too powerful to even think
of giving to a robot, I'll look up its specs for comparison. It does
have some rather humorously named ``safety blades'' made of plastic
rather than the usual metal, but I wouldn't dare stick any part of me
I wanted to keep in the way even then.

> In anycase our time is best spent on the robotic
> part of the project, not redesigning cutting
> technology.
Unfortunately, the cutting part is one of the most essential and demanding
parts of this project and its design will have to be chosen with great
care or the rest of the work will be useless!

Robin.

--
Copyright (C) 1996 R.M.O'Leary <robin nospam at acm.org>  All rights reserved.