Sheep are great. They mow your lawn, look cute and fluffy - heck, when you get bored of it you can even eat it. Problem is though, they go 'bah' a lot, crap a whole lot - and when they get sick the vet saddles you with a bill for £1,000 and a dead sheep to get rid of. Not to mention the ministry of agriculture and the reaction of your neighbours in the terrace next door... Goats of course have the added benefit of being the ultimate guard dog, and being that little bit nuts; coupled with digesting your boxers.

So, how do we keep the upside; the free lawn mower and lose all the downside - a robot lawn mower.

It's solar powered, grass grows in the sun - so this shouldn't be a problem. Grass is digested and converted into power or released as innocuous gas. It crawls around your garden - like a slug, rather than doing all of the work at break-neck speed.
-- ThomasEdison, Jun 27 2007

Current technology http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/
Baked bar the solar power [neutrinos_shadow, Jun 28 2007]

(?) Student project http://kron1.eng.ox...005-solar-sheep.php
[jutta, Jun 28 2007]

Electrolux solar Automower version (German) http://www.auto-mower.com/
The solar-powered version of the automower isn't availble in the US, but someone, somewhere, has one. [jutta, Jun 28 2007]

shameless self-promotion: Creeping_20Rodent_20Run
My solution combined robotic and organic components. [pertinax, Jun 28 2007]

Robotic lawn mowers have been available for some time, although I don't know if any are solar powered.
-- neutrinos_shadow, Jun 28 2007


Are you suggesting a metabloic reation occuring within the machine that produces power? And that the power dirived is enough to power the mower? And what cuts the grass? This idea needs to be defined.
-- evilpenguin, Jun 28 2007


androids would have nightmares over this idea - electric sheep...

i think direct solar power would be the easiest route, but it would be cool to have some sort of self-contained composter that allows the solarsheep to crap natural fertilizer made from ingested grass clippings. of course, the artificial farts may also come in handy.
-- TIB, Jun 28 2007


<hacks sheep, uploads 'sheep2goat.exe'>
-- lurch, Jun 28 2007


I'll disguise my solar-powered wolf to look like your solar-powered sheep.
-- hippo, Jun 28 2007


When you shear your robot sheep do you get steel wool? (Sorry, coudn't resist)
-- Canuck, Jun 28 2007


Kudos [TIB]. You gave me an idea for a name for this invention, the 'Bladerunner'.
-- marklar, Jun 28 2007


[marklar]: thanks - i was hoping someone would get that reference pretty fast. it's my favourite flick.

i was actually envisioning the sheep farting flames throughout the night, but wasn't sure if anyone would get it. hmmmm, i feel the need for ramen.
-- TIB, Jun 28 2007



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