|
|
|
Our Ideas
Although the cutting edge robots are powerhouses on the lawns of suburbia, they are sadly lacking in performance when they toil upon grassy knolls and rough terrain. Like a razor attempting to cut a smooth round surface perfectly, the robot may only cut grass in planes, reducing its effectiveness in perfectly shearing the overgrown grass. This particular flaw can be especially disdainful to the homeowner living in a very wild or rugged area such as the Sonoma hills, which are ridden with small slopes and other deformities in the landscape. Such a harsh land is not suitable for the Roombaesque robots that are currently on the market. To remedy this, we propose that a shock system be integrated into the robot’s mechanics. Such as system would ensure that as it was traversing hilly terrain that it might maintain a certain plane and keep mowing at the same level. Additionally, a sensor could be implanted, giving trajectory, speed, and grade information to the robot’s processor. This would lead to the robot being able to even mow the most uneven lawns with perfect efficiency, all of the gyros and information working in harmony with the shape of the slope, creating a perfect cut. 2.) Can only do small lawns. Again, the concept that only those with a certain type of lawn would be able to employ the services of the current generation of robot is preposterous. The robot should be capable of mowing extensive lawns. Those who cannot mow their own lawns, let alone people with large lawns, would benefit the most from this technology, but due to the limitations of current robots, they suffer from this sundering from the rest of those who may reap rewards from the current market robots. This problem is generally associated with the power systems of the robot. The average robot has around a couple of hours of life to accomplish their task. before they shut down-leaving large lawns uncut. A robot, according to our philosophy, should be able to complete its task. The 24V battery of the typical robot is incredibly unsuited for its task, therefore, if it may not mow anyone’s lawn that is bigger than a mere patch of suburban grass. An appropriate solution, therefore, would be to fix a solar power system to the robot that not only provides power to the robot, but recharges a fuel cell for those gloomy, grey days that the sun can’t penetrate. This would give an edge to the robot by allowing it not only to use a renewable fuel source to mow a lawn and a larger one at that, but also to work at the same rate with the same efficacy and at the same length as if they had renewable power. This solar power/fuel cell combination could well be the key in developing a robot that works longer. 3.) Can’t cut on slopes. See problem 1. 4.) Can’t cut long grass. One of the flaws that plagues the current generation of robots is the inability to plow through the taller grasses. This again hinders the robot’s capability to perform work because it cannot properly cut long grass because it is flattened by the rolling action of the robot’s wheels. Not only that, but the safety bumper, although a boon to the human limbs, flattens the grass creating more uncut grass. However, based on the idea of biophysics that the vascular structure will erect itself once more after the mower has past over it, we propose that a sensor be erected that provides a sensor with uniform level that cuts the grass to that height scanning the area designated for mowing scan for abnormal heights in the grass length. Such a scanner would detect the uncut patches and direct the robot over the long grass, cutting the long grass. To finalize the problem about the frontal bumper, we propose that a grid like comb be put on the robot instead of the bumper. The grid would be fine enough that the robot would be able to process grasses into its blades, but large enough to keep out human fingers. This would alleviate the problem of the problematic structures that decrease efficiency. 5.) Bumper can flatten grass. See #4 6.) Difficult to cut grass with lots of obstacles. See #6. Referring to the bumpers, the sensor mounted on the robot that checks for uniform heights in grass would also double to detect anomalies such as rocks or tree roots. This venture could also be pursued by GPS devices or infrared systems. Utilizing these systems would include having a field set up along the perimeter of the cutting field. This field would deter and navigate the robot around these anomalies. The information about the rocks and other such hazards would be transmitted to the robot through a system of removable stakes that contain the same sensor system as the one contained in the robot. The processor, then, would compare the data and be able to steer itself automatically around such obstacles. It would also contain the robot within the designated mowing area. Not only that, but the perimeter would be exponentially easier to install into the lawn area because it consists of simple stakes implanted into the ground as opposed to wires that must be buried in the ground, which can be a toil and labor to set up. Again, the idea of disability comes into play because those who are disabled cannot readily set up the wires without much painstaking and troublesome work. Simple yet effective, this field would be able to perform all the functions of the buried wire-electromagnetic field system, with the notable exception of being more feasible to set up without the hassle of dealing with digging through a homeowner’s own precious lawn to place a wire beneath it. 7.) Wire perimeter is not efficient and can be difficult to set up. See #6 8.) E/M field to keep robot in work area is too hard to set up, does not enough area to cover, and needs adjusting. See #6 9.) The robot has poor battery efficiency. See #2 10.) Availability On the subject of availability, the crème de la crème of lawn mowing robots usually runs for $1000 American. That is a fairly steep figure, as opposed to about $100 for a regular lawnmower. In fact, it is likely that many potential consumers who may utilize these robotic lawn mowers will be turned away immediately by the high price. Instead, we propose that our robot cater to the needs of those who use it. A stock model of our robot, one that is made for basic mowing of lawns, would be appropriate for those who have specific types of lawns. For example, a person with a flat, suburban lawn would not benefit much for an extraneous device such as shocks for the robot that keeps the robot on par with the sloping lawns. Therefore, customers would be able to order this stock model for about $600, which cuts the price down more than a third of the current devices on the market. This doubly fits in with our philosophy because we not only provide a more affordable device that will appeal to more people, but the public may also add their own needs onto the robot, therefore making it as cost effective as possible. Even when compared to a professional gardener, this is preferable because the average person will consider this an investment for life rather than a more erratic and unreliable source of lawn maintenance. We could therefore extend the hand of robotic technology into the common household, and welcome them to the 21st century. |
|
Oak Ridge High School Team 05-0166
|