Will my robot lawnmower cross a concrete path or patio?

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ianganderton

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#302980 8-Jan-2023 13:58

I’ve order a Moebot for the new place and I’m planning the guide cabling. To connect a couple of grass areas the robot will need to cross a couple of concrete surfaces. Im not worried about that but I’m trying to work out how to lay the guide wire so they are not exposed and have some protection from damage.

Has anyone any experience of this?

richms

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#3018576 8-Jan-2023 14:08

expansion gaps in the concrete are usually the go-to to get the boundary wires across concrete paths etc. If you dont have any than it should be a quick job for a concrete cutter guy to cleanly add some cuts, or you could do it the chorus installer way and use an angle grinder with a diamond blade and make it look like it was done with an axe.

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Gordy7

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#3018632 8-Jan-2023 18:44

As long as the concrete and grass soil are at the same level then the mower crossing should be ok.

When laying out my guide wire I close cropped my lawn and stapled the guide wire in place.

After a few months the guide wire was completely covered.

I have my mower cut set at 25mm.

Gordy

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RunningMan

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#3018633 8-Jan-2023 18:48

richms:

[snip] or you could do it the chorus installer way and use an angle grinder with a diamond blade and make it look like it was done with an axe.

Genuinely LOL'd and just about choked on my dinner reading that

ianganderton

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#3018635 8-Jan-2023 19:00

richms:
expansion gaps in the concrete are usually the go-to to get the boundary wires across concrete paths etc. If you dont have any than it should be a quick job for a concrete cutter guy to cleanly add some cuts, or you could do it the chorus installer way and use an angle grinder with a diamond blade and make it look like it was done with an axe.

I would have probably tried the angle grinder approach if you hadn’t said this 🙄😔

Is it wrong that I still might 🤠🥳

ianganderton

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#3018636 8-Jan-2023 19:01

Gordy7:
As long as the concrete and grass soil are at the same level then the mower crossing should be ok.

When laying out my guide wire I close cropped my lawn and stapled the guide wire in place.

After a few months the guide wire was completely covered.

I have my mower cut set at 25mm.

Cool. This is my plan and it’s good to get confirmation it’s a good plan

Gordy7

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#3018645 8-Jan-2023 19:19

Based on my Gardena mower there are 2 wires to install... Boundary wire and a guide wire.

The guide wire enables the mower to return to the charging base.

You may need to consider 2 or 3 of wire crossings for your path.

You may be able to set up 2 mowing areas and get the mower to drive between them.

A map sketch of your lawn and paths would help in discussion.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

ianganderton

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#3018666 8-Jan-2023 20:40

Gordy7:

A map sketch of your lawn and paths would help in discussion.

This is rough sketch using google maps measurement function. It marks the approximate cable layout

The 3 'zones are marked

1 - back lawn

2 - front lawn

3 - berm

The orange areas are the concrete.

Bung

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#3018668 8-Jan-2023 20:44

ianganderton:
richms:
expansion gaps in the concrete are usually the go-to to get the boundary wires across concrete paths etc. If you dont have any than it should be a quick job for a concrete cutter guy to cleanly add some cuts, or you could do it the chorus installer way and use an angle grinder with a diamond blade and make it look like it was done with an axe.

I would have probably tried the angle grinder approach if you hadn’t said this 🙄😔

Is it wrong that I still might 🤠🥳

Not at all. If you have a 100mm grinder you'll only get a 15mm deep cut but that should be enough. Unless the blade is worn out it will be much neater than using an axe.

Gordy7

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#3018675 8-Jan-2023 21:09

Tricky lawn geometry.

Just a few notes.

Council Maps and GIS can offer better aerial views than Google for planning.

If your concrete is yet to laid it might be a good idea to put some small pipes or conduit in place.

My guide wires can be up to 50mm below the lawn.

My mower has a recommended lower limit passage way of 600mm.

I still use a petrol mower for my berms and trimming around the lawn edges.

A line trimmer could also be used for lawn edges.

While my robotic mower can mow in rain and wet grass, with all this wet weather and rapid lawn growth I anticipate having to fully mow with my petrol mower.

Gordy

My first ever AM radio network connection was with a 1MHz AM crystal(OA91) radio receiver.

ianganderton

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#3018677 8-Jan-2023 21:28

Gordy7:

Tricky lawn geometry.

Just a few notes.

Council Maps and GIS can offer better aerial views than Google for planning.

If your concrete is yet to laid it might be a good idea to put some small pipes or conduit in place.

My guide wires can be up to 50mm below the lawn.

My mower has a recommended lower limit passage way of 600mm.

I still use a petrol mower for my berms and trimming around the lawn edges.

A line trimmer could also be used for lawn edges.

While my robotic mower can mow in rain and wet grass, with all this wet weather and rapid lawn growth I anticipate having to fully mow with my petrol mower.

Where I am at the moment in Titirangi we have a Husqvarna 315 that does an amazing job. The lawn looks so healthy and neat all the time. I didn't realise just how good they are for the lawn till I saw the results this one has given over the past 6 months. We have 3 completely separate areas here. I've actually just carried the mower back to its main base after a run on the slightly smaller back garden. Its done 2 there today and the lawn is looking great, one run looks like a really bad hair cut.

The main lawn has plenty of slope on it and it copes well. It gets occasionally gets stuck but now I've seen and learnt from that its easy and easy problem to solve.

At the rental place I'm moving into next month (pictured) everything is already there. I've contacted MoeBot with the same image I've posted to ask their advice.

I haven't seen a spec for the minimum or optimum width of a corridor to link 2 areas. The dotted line marks the approx. path I think it should take to link the front and back, there is plenty of room that side. There is no way through on the other side, there is a gate post in the way.

Documentation says there is a zones function in the app but I havent seen that yet.

My understanding is the MoeBot doesn't use a guidewire function

Jase2985

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#3018850 9-Jan-2023 08:04

i wouldn't be mowing the berm with one, just asking for it to be stolen.

ianganderton

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#3018853 9-Jan-2023 08:17

Jase2985:

i wouldn't be mowing the berm with one, just asking for it to be stolen.

Yeah, I've been trying to think about circumstances where it was 'supervised' but you are right, its just very high risk

Zorg2000

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#3030214 1-Feb-2023 10:19

Any update? Interested to know how you got on with this as I have been looking at a Moebot and have a similar (but not the same) property layout. Cheers