pudge's Journal: Val Stevens

I met Washington State Senator Val Stevens at the legislative district caucuses a couple of months ago. I didn't see her at the state convention this weekend, although I talked about her with some fellow delegates.

She showed up on my doorstep today, handing out literature about her candidacy for re-election. Kinda weird: I'd never had a politician herself come to my door before, and when one does, it's one I've met.

She was quite interested in RoboMower, who was, at the time, cutting the front lawn.

Moo

[Chacham]

She was quite interested in RoboMower, who was, at the time, cutting the front lawn.

I'd probably be interested too. Do you get people staring at it a lot?

Re:Moo

[pudge]

I'd probably be interested too. Do you get people staring at it a lot?

Pretty much. We live on a dead-end street, so not a lot of passers-by, except people who live here, or have business with people who do. Yesterday a pickup truck parked outside the house for a few minutes looking at it. Either that, or he was casing the joint.

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

And the next question is....

Do you *want* people to stare? :)

I must admit, i'd go for that a bit. Not to be the center of attention, but to give kewlness to the new geektoy.

Re:Moo

[pudge]

No, I don't want them to stare. For awhile, I was running Robomower in off-hours, so I wouldn't have to talk to anyone about it. Part of that was that I don't like to be the center of attention, and the other part was that I still didn't have it all set up properly. :)

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

Heh. And here i'd be *begging* people to let me mow their lawn. :)

FWIW, when I first saw the name, i thought you were referring to another editor. :P

Re:Moo

[pudge]

Heh. And here i'd be *begging* people to let me mow their lawn. :)

Would be nice, but limited battery life (2 hours) and long recharge times (24 hours, or 4 with the fast charger), coupled with the time-consuming setup (setting up a wire around the lawn, to run a current through it) makes that mostly infeasible.

FWIW, when I first saw the name, i thought you were referring to another editor. :P

Ha!

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

You need to set up wires?

I figured it'd simply stop where the grass stops, or hits some form of barrier. Isn't that how the in-house vacuum cleaners work?

And how long does it take to do the lawn anyway? Two hours ought to be enough time to do a few, shouldn't it?

Re:Moo

[pudge]

You need to set up wires?

Yes.

I figured it'd simply stop where the grass stops, or hits some form of barrier.

Knowing when the grass stops would be Hard. And it does stop when it hits barriers, both physical and, in the case of the wires, electronic.

Isn't that how the in-house vacuum cleaners work?

Yes, but a house has walls, and you don't need to worry about flower beds, driveways and streets, or the neighbors lawns.

And how long does it take to do the lawn anyway? Two hours ought to be enough tim

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

Knowing when the grass stops would be Hard.

Why? Firstly, the height is different. If it were the same, it wouldn't be able to roll there anyway. Then there's the color difference, and texture. There are many ways to sense where it shouldn't go.

Anyway, if you're already setting up barriers, why not just setup a laser beam to chop it for you. Should only take a moment. :-P

My lawn, which is not that big, takes about six hours.

What?!?!

Sounds like that thing isn't ready for prime time just yet. Though, i

Re:Moo

[pudge]

Why? Firstly, the height is different. If it were the same, it wouldn't be able to roll there anyway. Then there's the color difference, and texture. There are many ways to sense where it shouldn't go.

So what about bare patches on the lawn, for example?

What?!?! Sounds like that thing isn't ready for prime time just yet.

It's better than mowing it myself. So it takes awhile, so what? It doesn't complain, and I don't need to watch it. :-)

Re:Moo

[FroMan]

Could you use those same wires for an electric fence for a dog?

Re:Moo

[pudge]

No. Similar concept, but different thing. I suppose in theory you could -- as far as I know -- but there's no existing hardware to support it, and I'd have strong doubts that you could have the same wire used for both systems.

Even more pragmatically, the lawn mower wire is along the inside of the lawn (several inches), while the invisible fence wire (we have it for our three dogs) is a good foot or so beyond the lawn. And both follow different paths in regard to the driveway, etc.

So ... I have radio wa

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

. I suppose in theory you could -- as far as I know -- but there's no existing hardware to support it,

1) IIRC, when using double-dashes, no space is left between either dash, on either side. So "could--as far as I know--but".

2) There easily is hardware for it. IIRC, there are many robots eyes that are trained to follow a line on the floor, on the basis of color. Height is merely an electric eye thing as well, as in common use in elevators and garages. The difference in texture may be complicated, however

Re:Moo

[pudge]

1) There is disagreement on this point, and you clearly see which said I come down on.

2) What I said was in response to something completely different, using the same wire for two purposes (invisible fence and robomower).

Re:Moo

[Chacham]

OK, and oops. :)

Re:Moo

[jdavidb]

Can I ask how well this thing works? I decided to pay a kid to do our lawn this year because I thought the time could be better spent building my new marriage. I might consider buying one of these for next year, or a few down the road. I'm asthmatic and only mowed a lawn about five times before I became a homeowner; plus, we live on a corner lot that is a lot huger than it looks, and I hate it.

My biggest concern would be can I get it to mow every section of my lawn? The driveway separates the lawn int