Update 18/06/2022: I removed the RoboClaws (don’t work on mesh wire protecting bad patches in recovery). Instead I added grip spikesgrip spikes now. First test run is promising! Grip does seem to have improved, and it’s not pulling the mesh wire loose.
Update 16/06/2022: I tried adding RoboClaws spikes to improve the grip. There are various vendors which seem to provide too small wheels (226 diameter), RoboClaws has a 229mm model which definitely helps improve traction. HOWEVER, it still gets stuck in sandy patches. The mesh helps great to cover those, the RoboClaws don’t work on the mesh though. Therefore I removed them again, and will work on recovery using mesh to protect bad patches first. My wife hasn’t seen the spikes yet, you don’t want the mower to drive over your (bare) foot with spikes 🙂 so not sure she’ll let me use them when we no longer have sandy patches 😉
Update 30/05/2022: Just had to reconnect the wire to the base station to solve the wire issue. Because of the challenging steep cornered charging station, it may have moved causing the wire to get loose. Radio did arrive, better to test that with a working wire first time anyway :)Update 29/05/2022. “Wire missing”. Second time now, first time it has obviously cut the wire (read below), so was easy to locate and fix. Now the light is red, and every now and then very briefly green, so need to find out what is wrong. The Landroid returned close to it’s station (too steep/sandy/not-yet-level hill on top of which against all instructions I put the charging station). Ordered an AM radio which should (at 700MHz) give more clues where the wire has an issue. Will update here 🙂 Expect I may need it in the future anyway, also useful for our PetSafe cat fence.Update 27/05/2022: Even though the new L1000 has a V-shaped.profile and I assume heavier wheels out of the box, on oir terrible “grass” there is still too much slippage for my liking. I ordered some tire studs to see if it helps improve (still need to figure out optional positioning, since the profile on the new type of too small to add them on top). Also considering adding the spiky RoboClaws disc, however reviews suggest it is too small for the WR147e.1. Will keep this post updated.We live in a forest area, and our open area is supposed to be covered with nice green grass, however it’s is more moss and sand 🙂 Our kids play outside often, and there are 2 reasons for us to try and improve the habitat. (1) avoid ticks, (2) reduce wetness after rain (moss is blocking the water from entering the ground).We have some steep 30° slopes, and crappy grass with often twigs, pineapples, etc. So finding a good robomower seemed like a challenge.I like Tweakers as a good resource of tech people discussing all kinds of products, and the Worx Landroid seemed by far the most popular model. Because of our “rough” terrain, I decided to go for the L series since it has 2 front wheels instead of 1, which I’d expect to work better on slopes and bad terrain. I estimated our grass to be ~400m2, and purchased the L1000 (WR147E.1, 1000m2) to ensure it should easily manage. Also this model is supposed to have improved wheels for better grip.Installation was actually fairly simple. I did position the charging station on a slope on a corner, which provided some challenges. Especially cause the grass is really bad (more dirt), and therefore especially when driving back uphill the Landroid can get stuck digging a hole. Short term solution, covering the bad patches with fiber. Long term solution, fix the grass.
The Landroid app has a measure feature which determines the size of the grass field using the camera, it says 270m2 and 96m. Installing the wire was really quite simple, however even though I got the L1000 model which includes 250 pegs, I had to buy another 100 pegs to properly install the wire. Reason being the ground is not flat, and if the wire gets a bit up from the ground .. it will be cut by the Landroid. Which was another lessen, as my initial attempt was not to cut the wire. First test run the Landroid cut it (I was aware the wire wasn’t installed perfect yet, so wrongly took a chance). That did give me more freedom on the second wire laying to be less defensive as I no longer mind cuts (and will fix them with heat shrinks).The Landroid is dealing surprisingly well with the slopes. It doesn’t deal well with patches of sand (which I need to convert to proper grass). Also when wet, it easily loses grips and slid been es down the hills every now and then.First test run I was afraid our grass would never work with a robot mower, second run (avoiding sandy patches) things started working well!The wire is supposed to “disappear” over time as it somewhat sinks in the ground and will be hidden by the healthy green grass we are hoping for .. I’ll keep this post updated 🙂