Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 15 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: General
Betsie is mowing the front yard again now. I didn’t find the break in the wire, but it isn’t on the front loop, so I pieced that together so she could go out.
I traced the back yard loop and didn’t find a break. Maybe the wire is just too long?
I don’t think so….. should be less than 1500 feet. I think.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 15 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: General
Would you still buy a Lawnbot considering your experience?
I think I would. It’s very fun, and I’ve met a lot of the neighbors. I’m a gadget-loving person, so that’s a big factor.
Some things that would have helped (would still help actually):
I don’t even Have a normal lawnmower right now. So if there’s a section of grass that Betsy gets caught on I have to let her hack away at it one bite at a time. When she gets caught on tall grass she shuts down. I haven’t figured out any way to restart her again other than carrying her back to the charging dock. This has been good for my biceps though! But, slow progress on the lawn. I think a weed wacker would be a good backup.
The rapid returns are working great now. I had expected her to turn off the point, but instead she goes over the whole triange, then when she returns to the straight wire she stops suddenly, and turns 90 degrees out. Then goes straight until she hits the other side.
The dock terminals for the perimeter wire aren’t the best. I’ve lost the springs out of them and have the wires held in with tape. This works ok until Bets runs into the docking station a few times. Then the wires jiggle loose and I have to open it up and fix them.
I wonder if there are any software updates yet…. It’s a neat feature to be able to download new software, but only if the company actually offers it.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 15 Jul 2006 | Tagged as: General
Sometimes the transmitter light will remain steady green, indicating that the wire isn’t making a full loop. Today it’s doing just this.
Sometimes the problem is just in the terminals on the charging dock. Sometimes its a splice that got pulled apart. Sometimes I find it right away and everything’s fine. But sometimes, like today, I find a break and things Still don’t work.
Frustrating.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 16 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: General
Betsie made it back to the charging dock tonight all by herself.
I redid some of the front yard wire to put the base station on the right side of the house. Now the front yard is zone 1, back zone 2, and inside the dog fence zone 3.
My rapid return triangles aren’t working, but she still made it home to charge after mowing out front.
This set up stuff would have been easier with a smaller yard the first time. I can’t wait to get our new house and do it all over again (seriously, no sarcasm at all!).
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 08 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: General
The neighbor’s yard seems to have super tough super thick grass. And it doesn’t get cut that often. So I’m taking advantage of it being short today! Betsie is hacking away at our border to get it down to meet his.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 07 Jun 2006 | Tagged as: General
I raised the blade back up and found a nice dremel tool to sharpen it with. Betsie is doing a great job on the side yard so far!
The side yard is only about 7 feet wide, so I’m curious how long she’ll get stuck over there before returning to the front.
Me neighbor seems to have very thick, tough grass. It’s also deep and spongy under the blades. Quite a challenge for Betsie, and I may just move the wire further onto my property and hope his paid lawn guy cuts the difference.
On another note, my boyfriend and I are house shopping! I never thought I’d be adding “lawn suitable for robot mowing” to my wish list. 
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 27 May 2006 | Tagged as: General
Betsie had been crossing the wire and cutting up the weeds in my flower beds last weekend. She also mowed eratically in the front yard. And the worst part, she crossed the wire and mowed the neighbor’s yard! I couldn’t figure out what was going on! I also was about to go away for a few days. So I left her turned off.
Today I got home and tried putting her in the front yard. She mowed a few feet then stopped, blinked No Signal, backed up, continued forward, repeat. That No Signal made me think something was really up with the wire. I walked around it and found a few spots where it was touching metal and fixed those. I put her in the back yard. She seemed fine there, except for occaisionally, No Signal.
I decided to stop and think. The last time I had her working fine was the day before that guy came and mowed my field down to normal lawn level. Maybe he hit the wire. However, on the same day, I rearranged the wire to cover the side yard. So, two changes.
I decided to make a sketch. I drew the house, fence, and yard. I started drawing the wire from Betsie’s house. It runs out to the front, in front of the garage, along th front of the house, along the side of the house to the trees. Then I left a small gap between the other wire so she could pass through there… Along the back deck, along the other side of the house.. And… Back to the charging station. Oops… That can’t be right. That would mean that I have two unconnected wires. One inside the other, and no power going to the outside perimeter! And that is exactly what I had.
Doh! So I went out to the side yard and redirected the wire to make a u-turn along the neighbors yard to circle the front. It had done that originally… But I switched it somehow.
Now Betsie is mowing just fine. Maybe Kerry was right about engineers causing problems. If it wasn’t a holiday weekend I would have emailed him for help.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 17 May 2006 | Tagged as: General
I just went to find Betsie before settling in for the evening. I peeked out the window just in case she might have made it home to dock on her own, and there she was! Sleeping in her house. Yay!
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 16 May 2006 | Tagged as: General
In the winter I love looking up at the closed and dark ski area watching the snowcats plow the trails. Betsie is like that for my yard.
Or maybe more like a firefly since she only blinks every few seconds.
Posted by sara (betsie's mom) on 10 May 2006 | Tagged as: General
The lawnmower my landlord provided with the house won’t start. The one that a neighbor brough over, I can’t make it start. Betsie, the lawnbott, one push of a button and she’s mowing.