4th Student Conference on Research and Development (Scored 2006), June 2006

The Development of a Remote Control Partner

Lawnmower Robot
Mohd Zikrul Hakim Noor, Nohaidda Sariff and Norlida Buniyamin
Faculty of Electrical Engineering
Universiti Teknologi MARA
40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia

Abstract -. This paper reports an undergraduate project that unit. The user friendly SPL as shown in Figure 1 is
attempts to develop a partner robot to assist and support remotely controlled via three buttons. The SPL and its
humans in the task of lawn mowing, which is a routine task operation are described in detail in section V.
that has been widely considered as both boring and tiring. The main reason that the robot was designed to
The two semester project presented herewith was be controlled manually rather then to be autonomous is to
undertaken in partial fulfillment for the award of the
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree of the University
avoid the need to incorporate sensors to aid navigation.
Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. This is because of the need to reduce cost since the
project had minimal funding. Although the robot is not
The paper describes the development of a automatic, several advantages were obtained due to the
manually controlled low cost prototype lawnmower partner robot being controlled remotely which is detailed in the
robot using radio frequency (RF) as the control next section.
transmission media. A detailed description of the prototype,
the rationale for the design, how it was tested and its
performance is presented. In addition, this paper includes
an overview of currently available automated lawnmower
and the problems faced in the development of such
machines. A discussion of the advantages and disadvantages
of using automated and manually controlled lawnmowers is
also included.

I. INTRODUCTION
Lawnmowers as a domestic product have been
widely available in markets throughout the United States
and the European countries. The use of domestic
lawnmowers has recently increased in Asian countries
such as Malaysia and Thailand. There are many types of
lawnmowers and many ways to control them such as,
either manually controlled or autonomously which have
minimal or no human intervention. The use of automatic Fig. 1: Smart Partner Lawnmower (SPL) robot.
lawnmowers or “partner robot” lawnmowers is now very
popular especially in the United States. The term “partner
robot” has been accepted to refer to lightweight robotic II. ADVANTAGE OF USING REMOTE
working machine designed mainly for outdoor use [4]. CONTROLLED LAWNMOWERS
These machines or “partner robots” are designed to be From the literature reviewed and observation of
able to work interactively with a human with the goal to domestic and commercial usage of lawnmowers, the
assist and support humans in carrying out difficult and following problem arises when autonomous or
routine task. Examples of such lawnmowers are the conventional lawnmowers (manually controlled) are used
Robomower, Lawn Ranger and the Weed Eater [2]. [1, 2]:

The partner lawnmower robot described in this
paper was built to study the feasibility of remotely
controlling a low cost prototype lawnmower robot using
radio frequency. The second objective of the project was
to provide the student the practical and theoretical
experience of actually building a robot at minimal cost.
The lawnmower robot, named Smart Partner Lawnmower
(SPL) was built without sensors thus requiring human
intervention. Human control or intervention is enabled via
radio frequency control, that is, the user or operator can
communicate with the SPL robot via a wireless control
1. Manually controlled lawnmower will expose human
to harsh conditions such as the sun and rain.
2. Lawn mowing is at times a hazardous activity where
if the human are in the fields or lawn, manually
controlling the lawnmower, he may be exposed to
dust, pollen and allergens as well as the rotating or
moving blades/cutters.
3. The use of autonomous lawnmower robots is very
expensive due to intelligent sensors that must be built

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4th Student Conference on Research and Development (Scored 2006), June 2006
in the robot. For example, Robomower from Friendly
Robotics has a special sensor to detect the peg wire
laid around the edges of the lawn to be mowed [3].
The sensor and the peg wire ensure that the
Robomower stays inside the designated area, which
is the area to be mowed.
4. Autonomous lawnmower robot needs complex
programming and algorithms that enables fast
decision making in order to avoid possible obstacles
in the field as well as to avoid redundant path
navigation.
The above problems are solved by the use of a
remote controlled lawnmower. The human controlling the
lawn mower can be under a shade or a large umbrella,
removed from the fields thus avoiding the danger of
exposure to dust and the rotating blades. This type of
lawnmower does not need sensors and thus will be a
cheaper machine as the human himself is making the
decision for navigation. The human acting as a controller
uses his senses such as sight to obtain data required to
plan the path for the robot.
The SPL robot was designed to work using
rechargeable batteries as the power supply since it is the
first prototype and will be tested in the laboratory only
[1].
III. AN OVERVIEW OF CURRENTLY AVAILABLE
LAWNMOVERS
As previously mentioned, they are many
available lawnmowers. An internet search using
lawnmowers or robotic lawnmowers as the keyword
reveals many sites selling such machines. For example,
an interesting and useful site is the Friendly Robotics site
that details the advantages of using robotics lawnmowers
and explains how they work.
Friendly robotics was founded in 1995 in
Abiline, Texas. It developed a patented technology for
navigating and covering an area in a systematic manner
[3]. For example, the robomower from Friendly Robotics
as shown in Figure 2 are sold in two versions where each
version is suitable for different lawn sizes and mowing
modes.
RL850
Fig 2: Robomover from Friendly Robotics [3].
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In the automatic or autonomous mode, the
robomover with built in sensor is confined into the area to
be mowed by peg wires. The wire which is attached to
pegs is laid around the area to be mowed. This wire
which ensures that the robomower stays within the
designated area is powered by a small battery that enables
detection by the sensor on board the robomower [3].
Figure 3 shows how the peg wire is laid out around the
area to be mowed.
Fig. 3: Adapted from Friendly Robotics website [3]
In the year 2000, Hicks from the University of
Cincinnati did a brief survey of available robotics
lawnmowers [2]. By referring to his work, the
characteristics and specifications of available robotics
lawnmower was tabulated in Table 1. From the analysis,
it can be concluded that most currently available
lawnmowers offers automatic mode operations. The
automatic mode operation in most cases uses on board
sensors to detect wires laid around the perimeter of areas
to be mowed. In addition to sensors used to collect data to
control the lawnmower movement or navigation, other
sensors are now built into these lawnmowers such as
sensors that can detect cut and uncut areas of grass and
the roughness of the terrain to be navigated by the
lawnmower.
From the literature reviewed, the following are
factors that should be taken into account in the design of
a partner lawnmower. However, for the SPL, the design
did not consider all the factors below as the SPL robot
was built with limited funding, time and the main
objective was to provide a practical experience to the
student to build a robot.
Mowing mode Power consumption
Price Average work time
Power source Communication link
Theft Guard
Terrain of area to be mowed
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4th Student Conference on Research and Development (Scored 2006), June 2006

TABLE 1: COMPARISON OF AVAILABLE LAWNMOWER

Name of
Atawa A34 Lawn Ranger Weed Eater RL 500
lawnmower
French Manufacturer SN Technical Solution of Weed Eater Corporation Friendly Robotics
Manufacturer Eno Frederick

Power Solar power. Not given in attachment. Solar power. Rechargeable batteries.
Consumption
On-board computer. Remote mode and automatic Automatic mode. Fully automatic mode.
Modes Of mode.
Operation

Infrared sensor – avoid Infrared sensor – recognize cut Sensor to keep the system on Not given in attachment.(note:
obstacles. or uncut grass. track. this model have since been
Sensor
upgraded to RL850 and
Applied
RL1000 that have built-in
sensor to detect the wire)
Operates at top speed of Two modes operation. ! Can operate as along as Develop with a patent
21 ft/min. the mower has energy. technology for navigating and
! The system has on-board covering an area in a systematic
Special memory system. manner.
Features ! The safety precautions are
much more precise than
most mowers.

As depicted, the project was divided into four stages which

IV. DESIGN METHODOLOGY are;
Figure 4 depicts the research methodology for the SPL
robot project. 1. First stage : Literature review
2. Second stage : Circuit design
START 3. Third stage : Hardware development
4. Fourth stage : Testing and Validation)
L ite re tu re R e v ie w

C h o o s in g M e th o d V. THE SMART PARTNER LAWNMOWER ROBOT

PROTOTYPE
S e le c t c irc u it
(I c h a n n e l R F ) Figure 5 shows the SPL robot schematic diagram.
D e s ig n h a rd w a re
D e s ig n c irc u it
(O n P C B )

DC motor 1
F in d o u t p ro b le m :
S im u la te
C h e c k in g a n d re p a irs

Yes B u ilt th e p ro to ty p e Battery

E rro r

Blade
No
C o m b in a tio n

Circuitry
Tire
F in d o u t p ro b le m : T e s tin g a n d
C h e c k in g a n d re p a irs V a lid a tio n

Yes DC motor 2
E rro r

No
END

Fig. 5: Conceptual design pf SPL

Fig. 4: Flow chart of designing Smart Partner Lawnmower (SPL)

As depicted, the SPL have two actuators that is the
two DC motors, the chassis with areas for the circuitry,
battery, mower blade and tire. The DC motor 1 is used to

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4th Student Conference on Research and Development (Scored 2006), June 2006
provide forward and reverse movement and DC motor 2 is
used to provide left and right turn. The power source used
is rechargeable batteries (6 Volts).
The SPL robot as shown is remotely controlled via
three buttons as shown in Figure 6. The remote control
enables forward or reverse motion via button A and right or
left turn via button B. The final button C enables the user to
turn the cutter or blade on or off. The limitation of the SPL
robot is that the speed of the forward and reverse motion
cannot be controlled.
Forward
On
Left Right
Off
Reverse
A B C
Fig. 6: Picture of Transmitter to control SPL
VI. RESULT AND DISCUSSION
Two main tests were carried out. The first it to
ensure that the Smart Partner Lawnmower robot can be
controlled using radio frequency (RF) and the second is to
determine the operating range of the remote control used in
the project. The entire test was carried out in a test area
within a laboratory as shown Figure 7.
Fig. 7: Test area for the Smart Partner Lawnmower
Within a close distance, the SPL can be
successfully controlled using the transmitter. However
beyond 50 meters, the receiver was not able to detect signal
from the transmitter as shown in Table 2 that tabulates the
receiver (built onto the robot) output voltage against
distance / range between the SPL and transmitter.
TABLE 2: OPERATING RANGE TEST RESULTS
Range (m) Receiver Output
Voltage (V)
0 600m
10 600m
20 595m
30 610m
40 603m
1-4244-0527-0/06/$20.00 © 2006 IEEE
50 599m
60 -
Table 2 shows that there are minimal changes in
the receiver output voltage between 0 to 50 meters. The
average output voltage taken when the range is between 0 –
50m is about 601mV however control is lost beyond 50
meters. Figure 8 shows the stable output signal of the
receiver when the range or distance between the SPL and
transmitter is less than 50 meters.
Figure 8: Output from oscilloscope in the range below 50 meters
From the operating range test, it can be concluded
that the SPL can be controlled within a range of 0 to 50
meters.
The prototype Smart Partner Lawnmower (SPL) needs
to be improved and upgraded in terms of its functionality
and application. For future development, the control system
should be modified to enable speed control. The second
prototype should also consider loading conditions and
motor torque to enable the robot to move in more rugged
terrain rather than the test area only.
VII. CONCLUSION
The Smart Partner Lawnmower robot was
successfully built and tested. The main objective of the
project which was to provide an undergraduate student with
both the theoretical and practical experience of building a
robot at minimal cost was achieved. New technical
knowledge, skills in trouble shooting circuitry, product
design and confidence was gained.
VIII. REFERENCES
[1] The Development of a Partner Lawnmower Robot, Mohd Zikrul
Hakim Noor. Final year project thesis, Bachelor of Electrical Engineering
Degree, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
40450 Shah Alam, Malaysia, May 2006.
[2] A survey of Robot Lawn Mowers, Rob Warren Hicks, II and Ernest L.
Hall, Center of Robotics Research, ML 72, Cincinnati.
<http://www.robotics.uc.edu/papers/paper2000/lawnmower.PDF>
[3] Friendly Robotics:
<http://www.friendlyrobotics.com/robomow/>
[4] Workpartner – future interactive service robot, Helsinki University of
Technology, Espoo, Finland, 2000.
<http://www.automation.hut.fi/IMSRI/workpartner/step2000.pdf>
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