World’s First Internet Connected Lawnmower

IOT Lawnmower

Okay so this IOT is getting a bit out of hand. Introducing the world’s first(?) tweeting, internet connected, lawnmower.

[Michel] recently bought one of those new-fangled cordless lawn mowers by EGO. It runs off a 56V lithium ion battery pack, and apparently, works pretty well. Since it has plenty of on-board power, he decided to strap a 64MHz PIC18F25K22 to a ESP8266 and connect it to the internet. That part number has been taking the world by storm and it’s totally freaking awesome. The ESP8266 is a tiny WiFi module that is controllable over a serial port — and it only costs $5. Hello IOT-everything.

Anyway, to avoid voiding his warranty, [Michel] using non-invasive sensors to collect data — A series of hall effect sensors and magnets to be exact. One detects when the cutting system is engaged, and another magnet and sensor pair counts wheel revolutions. In the end, this gives you data on how far you pushed the mower, how long you spent cutting, and how long you were out there. When the job is done, you have the option to push a tweet with your stats. Woo!

He does admit, the tweeting feature is more there just to annoy his friends.

16 thoughts on “World’s First Internet Connected Lawnmower

  1. filed under ‘arduino hacks’? but he’s using a PIC!

    this is a new display type for me, so thanks for the ptr to that ;)

    not sure I’m in love with IoT that includes The Cloud..

    you know, there were so many things I could have done, but The Cloud got in my way.

    1. I figure I probably have about 3 more years. My 7 yr old isn’t quite tall enough and he can’t pull start it. Maybe if I put new batteries in the electric start….

      I guess that’s still only semi-autonomous as I’ll have to pay him, but I’ll get a lot of mows vs buying an expensive robot mower and worrying that Skynet will hack the ESP8266 and send it to mow me down.

  2. Considering that the first Mowbot was in 1965, a long time.
    First; in California, no water to make lawns. Alternatives are being used.
    Second; wasting energy on mowing. Even the Pope will have something to say about this. Aircraft are now being put in the sights of the EPA’s next aim at putting the brakes on what 7+billion can do on this poor Earth.
    I would much rather have that power pack on an e-bike or motorcycle. My electric push mower is older than the first robotic mower.
    Goats!

  3. The automated mower seems overly complex for what it really needs to do. In reality, you need something to repeat your action over and over again. So, the ability to record the path taken, using rotation sensors on the non-powered wheels, and you would have a fairly accurate path you took to mow the yard, you just can’t lift the mower while recording. Then the mower repeats your action, rather than all the random mowing about that the current crop of robots do. Backing up would seem to be the main problem, but if you take this into account in the path recording, it’s a possibility. This is not too far from the GPS run tractors for agriculture, without the need for the high precision GPS, which may still be a possibility, don’t know the current price point to get a high precision GPS.

    Safety would need a bump sensor to detect running into something, and a tilt sensor in case someone tries to tip it over, getting at the blades. Otherwise, turn it on, sit on the porch and watch it repeat your mowing path. A nice to have is a second or third pattern, so the grass doesn’t grow funny.

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