More Mule then Rover?

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Originally Posted by Tommy_T

But if these reel mowers could be used it may be possible to mow at night and use light
beacons(could be IR) and cameras for localization.

Tommy

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Good idea Tommy, I've just ordered a sonar device and IR sensor to play with. Not sure how I will use them exactly yet.
I will probably use pic microcontrollers and the Atmega328, time will tell, lots to learn since I'm new to alot of this. I do like the night time idea.

Hi Tommy_T,

I have a quick question for you:

Correct me if I am wrong, but I believe you are controlling the Mule through a wireless home network. Do you find when you are operating the Mule in a really bad snow storm that your connection to the robot suffers significantly? Also, what kind of usable range are you getting from your connection (both in clear weather and in a blizzard)?

Thanks!

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Do you find when you are operating the Mule in a really bad snow storm that your connection to the robot suffers significantly?

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parallax
I have the Mule's wireless router(NetGear) mounted outside, and yes I have had connection
issues during heavy snow falls, which I figured was caused by the router being covered with
snow(router sitting on roof of house), after I clear the router of snow I'm back to plowing.

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what kind of usable range are you getting from your connection (both in clear weather and in a blizzard)?

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Can't give a good answer to that question, because all my wireless range tests have been
done without heavy snow fall.

As is with the router outside(on the roof) the Mule's PC to router range is 450ft, Mule's network
cameras to route range is 300ft.

Tommy

Thanks for your quick reply! :)

BTW, I am a big fan of your project. It's executed cleanly, has a well-defined purpose, and is simply awesome. Great work!

The reason why I'm asking about these ranges:

I have been in the early stages of designing a general purpose farm-bot for a close friend of mine's family. More like a feasibility test, actually. I'm seeing if some of the things they would like it to do are reasonable at their location. They would love to have a similar plowing/mowing functionality as your Mule if possible.

However I am hitting a range roadblock. The family's driveway is close to 450 yds long (more like a road than a driveway) and other areas of the farm are even further away. I have toyed with setting up repeaters down the length of it, but it seems like a logistical nightmare to try and setup/maintain. After hearing your experience with usable ranges via WiFi, I think I may have to explore alternate methods.

Just a thought~ signals in the 2.4GHz range are severely degraded when traveling through water. Have you ever noticed any performance hit on a rainy day?

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I think I may have to explore alternate methods.

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I agree

it seems the best option are not always the easiest. Wifi while being very easy
to incorporate into most any system, has a number of shortcomings in outdoors
applications.

I gave the Mule the processing power to do it's tasks without the need for me to
look over it's shoulders(network cameras), but because of limitations of the
available transducers or my shortsighted use of them all tests this winter have
been under Wifi remote control.

This week I'm pulling the Wifi cameras and start using the processing power I gave the
Mule to accomplish it's tasks(easier said then done).

Tommy

Is the signal inhibition being caused by direct contact of the snow? If so, encapsulating the router in a transmission transparent material may help? Something simple like a suitably sized plastic cake storage piece with cover comes to mind - some are made so that the cake can sit on the cover for serving. The cover can be secured to a separate platform for easy mounting/dismounting to the roof.

Got the other two test mower mounted, now to look at spring loading.

Tommy

So I guess my post didn't even warrant the courtesy of a reply? I thought it might be helpful and certainly didn't intend to waste our time.

Sorry Stobs! No one means to offend you. I guess your post just slipped through the cracks.

To answer your question:

I'm reasonably sure that the cause of the signal inhibition that Tommy_T has commented on is caused by the encapsulation of the router by the snow and not direct contact. 2.4GHz signals degrade very fast when travelling through water and although snow is frozen, its essentially still just water molecules in a solid state. In this case, using a container like you described wouldn't help much. Good thinking, though!

Thank you very much for the reply parallax - although I'm confused as to why you replied instead of Tommy_T! ^.o

I sent my inquiry as an IM because I didn't want to post anything that could've been construed as inflammatory, but since I sent it to the wrong party I owe Tommy_T an apology for the faux pas and gratitude for passing the message on to you.

I've been following this thread pretty closely and have been inspired by its successes - I'm keeping a similar project in mind for a year or two down the road, as I become more familiar (and hopefully competent!) with robotics.

And thanks for the kind words, even though the idea wasn't really very helpful at all; being given the benefit of the doubt is appreciated! :}

PS: Well, let's make that two of a kind then. O.o I thought I'd sent the above post (#88) as an IM to Tommy_T, so explaining that may clear up some confusion I may have injected here. I hadn't seen that post up there until after I'd sent Tommy_T a "follow-up" IM and then refreshed the page. My additional apologies to you parallax and to the community at large.