Permanent visual markers are placed at various points on the edges of the yard. The markers would be maintained so that they always look the same and are not visually blocked. The pattern that the mower would later visually follow would be first created by a human pushing the mower on the first cut of the entire yard, while the on board camera took multiple snapshots of the journey. Later, on robotic runs, The camera on the mower would compare and follow pixel patterns on the existing on board memory of visual way points. If an object got in the way the mower would bounce off of the object and use existing robotic mower technology to travel in various directions and hunt for familiar visual way points, the same way humans do, until the proper path was found. Re-mowing previously cut areas could be reduced by a sensor that detected the cutting blade resistance encountered on its journey. When a previously mowed area was encountered, the mower would propel itself to the next path it is to mow, per it's memory. A clock on the mower could assist by comparing the present mowing time and position to the saved time and position in memory. If the operator requests, the mower could send a radio, visual or audible alert advising of abnormalities in its routine. Other features could be added that could detect the climb/descent/bank position of the mower, and compare it to stored data, via a position sensor-- Sunstone, Aug 21 2008 Similar technology is now arriving for efficient indoor floor cleaning http://www.google.c...al&client=firefox-aThe device beams two spots of infrared light on the ceiling to use as an indoor "North Star" to navigate with [Sunstone, Feb 12 2010] Trifo Ironpie M6 live streaming visual navigation robot vacuum https://duckduckgo....ax=videos&ia=videos [Sunstone, Nov 26 2019] Image-based Navigation https://www.grounda...-features-and-map/1Recent developments in learning image feature representations for object and place recognition have made image retrieval a viable method for localization [Voice, Nov 26 2019] San Seriffe https://en.wikipedi...g/wiki/San_Serriffe [Frankx, Nov 27 2019] I don't think this would work. If the mower found itself in a location and orientation it wasn't familiar with, how does it know which way is which?
In other words, if you just put the mower in the center of the lawn, pointed in an arbitrary direction, how does it know how to get back to its starting point? You'll need a lot of overlapping images and some sort of X/Y counter to create a coordinate system it can follow.-- phoenix, Aug 22 2008 FWIW this was a trick used by a couple of hackers towards the end of Battlebots tournaments. Cues were not visual however; I think they were infrared emitters.-- Steamboat, Feb 12 2010 Hmmmm...not sure about the precision. I tried to build a robotic mower and it always ended up losing it's way due to the vagaries of the lawn...this idea sounds fine on paper...but, with various moisture, cut grass clogging lenses and sensors, etc. the poor mower get's baffled as to exactly where it is. My little mower got lost and ended up randomly wandering around the yard...and I was amazed at what a good job it eventually did just on its own with no guidance at all.-- Blisterbob, Feb 12 2010 If all else fails and autonomous robotics let you down as it often seems to, mowing people's lawns could be crowd- sourced to people who swim lengths at the local pool (a boring activity at the best of times)..
they just wear special waterproof AR goggles. when they turn at the end of the pool the mower turns too cos the lawn is transposed onto the pool via the mower''a speed .. Or something . Deeper crawl strokes could cut deeper . Not sure if the swimmer would have to cover the whole pool though which could annoy other users-- DDRopDeadly, Feb 22 2018 I was just looking to see if Galileo will offer any greater precision than GPS. It seems that its highest resolution (1cm) will be encrypted, much like the existing GPS.
I've never been sure of the point of encryption. I mean, isn't ±1m sufficient for smart bombs etc? In other words, does encrypting the 1cm resolution really thwart any evildoers aside from militant lawn mowers?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 26 2019 Maybe I’m a cynic, but I suspect it will be so they can monetise it. There are quite a few civilian applications where 1cm resolution would be useful, and so can be charged for.-- Frankx, Nov 26 2019 You are entirely correct; the catch being that it's a solution to a problem that no longer exists.
There are already a range of extremely effective surveying techniques that are much cheaper to use that Galileo. DGPS will already deliver good enough accuracy for 90% of tasks (as long as selective availability is disabled). If you can then use DGPS to locate a couple of datum points on your site - using existing and fairly inexpensive kit - and then a theodolite and a stick will do the rest.
Apart from geophysicists wanting to measure plate movement, there aren't that many users who really need to pay for something better. That means that the idea of Galileo being a cash cow is dead before it's properly online, and it's already being superseded by other ground based and very cheap technologies that make it a white elephant. Nobody at the design stage considered that by the time it was available, a dense mesh of ground based communications cells that can use time-domain positioning would be implemented in most reasonably well populated areas - even in the Third World and wales.
So there's the existing GPS system, and GLONASS in the market ... wonder who thought turning up late with an overpriced offering was going to be a success ?-- 8th of 7, Nov 26 2019 For robot lawnmowers, why isn't a combination of one reference point (eg, the base station where it charges) plus inertial navigation good enough? My understanding was that I.N. is now cheap and small and good enough to give accuracy of a centimetre over a distance of a few tens of metres, at least.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 26 2019 //so they can monetise it.// Well, if the straight fee-for- service model won't work, they need to focus on advertising revenue and on-sales. "You are 188.433m south and 244.007m north of your nearest Renstisham's outlet."-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 26 2019 //You are 188.433m south and 244.007m north of//
I appear to be in two places at once. Probably.
Does Rentisham's have some special quantum properties?-- Frankx, Nov 27 2019 Certainly; indeed, it's a major selling point.-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 // I appear to be in two places at once.// That presumes that you are on Earth and not on, say, smallish asteroid.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 27 2019 //special quantum properties//
That's just how the estate agent described the old gacking sheds, isn't it? Probably to distract from the lingering aroma.-- pertinax, Nov 27 2019 // smallish asteroid //
Some of the nickel-iron ones have stomping magnetic fields ... makes 'em easy to nudge around for a game of Asteroid Snooker ...-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 //smallish asteroid// Thought about that. When you get to the South Pole, North isn’t a practical direction - and vice- versa for the North Pole. In fact, East and West are meaningless too.
Is that why polar explorers get lost?-- Frankx, Nov 27 2019 No, it's because they're stupid with a side order of suicidal.
It's very cold at your planet's poles, and there's bugger all there. No phone service, no pizza delivery, miles from the nearest pub, bleak, desolate and unwelcoming. Only stupid people go there.
Then again, it's nicer than Skelmersdale.-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 I'll not have a word said against Skelmersdale. Decent weather, interesting diversity of architectural styles, very vibrant music culture. Plenty of history, fascinating museums, and some of the art markets are well worth a visit. The cathedral is also quite amazing, and worth a visit in its own right.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 27 2019 No, hang on. That's Cologne.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 27 2019 Oh, duh! Cologne.
Smells nice too.-- Frankx, Nov 27 2019 Actually the newer part of Cologne is not so great; but the older half is worth visiting - semi-Cologne.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Nov 27 2019 <Rummaging noises/>
Aha !
<Inscribes [Frankx]'s name on The List in thick black indelible marker pen, underneath [Skewed]'s/>-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 //Semi-Cologne//... twinned, I believe, with San Seriffe? [link]-- Frankx, Nov 27 2019 ... and Molvania.-- 8th of 7, Nov 27 2019 // Trifo Ironpie M6 //
I'm making a list of every known model of cleaning robot, and was excited to see that one mentioned here because I thought I'd found a new one to put on the list. (I hadn't seen the date yet; I thought that link was posted back in 2008.) Anyway, I went to my list, and I was excitedly surprised to see that it was already listed! In fact, it's the only one on my list so far that starts with T.-- notexactly, Nov 28 2019 random, halfbakery