Accomplishments:

Well, I have thought about my new robot for a couple of weeks now. I started with the take care of everything in the yard robot, added a touch of reality, and ended up with a robot that will be able to cut and aerate the lawn.

After researching robot lawnmowers (both commercial and homemade), I have discovered an interesting commonality. They all work on level surfaces. Thus, these creations will not free me from my lawn mowing prison. Why? Because, my yard has two areas with considerable inclines.

As for budget, I would like to submit that a brand new ride-on mower can now be purchased for about $900 US. Furthermore, a brand new robot lawnmower can be zooming around my yard for about $700 US. So, to prevent my creative plans from turning into purchase plans, I have decided to set my budget at about $150 US.

Goals:

This week I hope to measure the maximum inclination angle for both areas of concern in my yard. This will allow me to differentiate between the areas of inclination and the drop-off (curb) by the end of my driveway.

Another topic of interest for this week is the framing material. I am looking for a low cost framing material that will cleanup easily after use.

Concerns:

There will soon be a time when I will no longer be able to avoid topics such as steering and traction.