Betsie Lawnbott

Basic Questions

When can I see the robot? You will most likely not see Betsie out when it is dark out. She has sensors that tell her how much the grass has grown, and this determines when she comes out next. Check the Twitter status for the latest updates or follow Betsie on Twitter to receive notifications.
Where is Betise and what time zone is that? We are in central Virginia, the Eastern Time Zone.
What do I see in the cameras? The camera on the left is a view from an upstairs window and shows part of the yard that Betsie mows. The camera on the right is attached to Betsie, so you see what she is moving towards. If the right hand camera is dark then she is docked and charging.
What do the neighbors think? A bit curious, probably think I’m a bit weird. A year later they still ask when Betsie is going to be on CBS Sunday Morning.
Are you making any money off this site? No, not much. I never click on AdSense ads, do you?
Why the name Betsie? That’s what you’d name a cow… cows eat grass… lawnmower eats grass… hence Betsie the Lawnbott.

Did you make Betsie? No, Betsie is a Lawnbott Evolution.
Where did you get her? Bamabots, I highly recommend them.
How do you keep it in the yard? There is a perimeter wire, similar to an electric dog fence, that keeps Betsie from taking off on her own. If she somehow gets outside of the wire she will shut down with an Out of Boundary error.

What kind of cameras are you using? The Yard Cam is an iSight. The Lawnbott Live camera on Betsie is similar to these CMOS wireless cameras on eBay
How is it powered? The camera can run off a 9V battery, so it was easy to hook it up to receive power from the lawnbott battery. I used a 8V voltage regulator to drop the voltage down to the right level.
What hardware are you using to stream? I am converting the composite video using an XLR8 ProView that uses USB2 and works with OS X.