Robotic lawn mower supervisor


  • Hardware Contributor

    Just dropping a small project i made here for the upcoming season.

    Its a motion and distance combined sensor sitting besides my robotic lawn mower. Whenever there is a movement it measures the distance, and therefore I can see if my mower is out or charging.

    0_1460478573291_1.jpg

    Why not only a motion detector - well I have alot of other things happening in the shed as well (cats, children, rabbits) and i also wants to know if the mower is charging or out cutting gras.

    0_1460478679125_2.JPG

    With a small lua script in Domoticz i hope to achieve a push notise whenever its trapped outside for to long.

    Its made of my EasyPCB, a Arduino Pro mini 5v, Nrf24l01+ radio, HC-SR04 distance sensor and HC-SR501 motion sensor.

    0_1460478780523_3.JPG

    Code for 2.0

    // Enable debug prints
    #define MY_DEBUG
    
    // Enable and select radio type attached
    #define MY_RADIO_NRF24
    //#define MY_RADIO_RFM69
    
    // #define MY_NODE_ID 12
    
    #include <SPI.h>
    #include <MySensors.h>
    #include <NewPing.h>
      
    #define DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR 3   // The digital input you attached your motion sensor.  (Only 2 and 3 generates interrupt!)
    #define CHILD_ID 1   // Id of the sensor child
    #define CHILD_ID_DIST 2
    #define TRIGGER_PIN  6  // Arduino pin tied to trigger pin on the ultrasonic sensor.
    #define ECHO_PIN     5  // Arduino pin tied to echo pin on the ultrasonic sensor.
    #define MAX_DISTANCE 300 // Maximum distance we want to ping for (in centimeters). Maximum sensor distance is rated at 400-500cm.
    
    // Initialize motion message
    MyMessage msg(CHILD_ID, V_TRIPPED);
    
    // Initialize distance message
    NewPing sonar(TRIGGER_PIN, ECHO_PIN, MAX_DISTANCE); // NewPing setup of pins and maximum distance.
    MyMessage msgdist(CHILD_ID_DIST, V_DISTANCE);
    int lastDist;
    boolean metric = true;
    int oldTripped = 0;
    int tripped = 0; 
    unsigned long lastRequest = 0;
    
    void setup()  
    {  
      pinMode(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR, INPUT);      // sets the motion sensor digital pin as input
      metric = getConfig().isMetric;
    }
    
    void presentation()  {
      // Send the sketch version information to the gateway and Controller
      sendSketchInfo("Distance and Motion", "1.3");
    
      // Register all sensors to gw (they will be created as child devices)
      present(CHILD_ID, S_MOTION);
      delay(100);
      present(CHILD_ID_DIST, S_DISTANCE);
    }
    
    void loop(){     
    
    unsigned long now = millis();
    
    //Read digital motion value
    tripped = digitalRead(DIGITAL_INPUT_SENSOR);
    if (tripped != oldTripped){
      lastRequest = now;
      
      // Distance?
      int dist = metric?sonar.ping_cm():sonar.ping_in();
      Serial.print("Ping: ");
      Serial.print(dist); // Convert ping time to distance in cm and print result (0 = outside set distance range)
      Serial.println(metric?" cm":" in");
      if (dist == 0){
        return; //read again if 0, because 0 is error!
      }
    
      if (dist != lastDist) {
          send(msgdist.set(dist));
          lastDist = dist;
      }
       // Motion?
      send(msg.set(tripped?"1":"0"));  // Send tripped value to gw 
      oldTripped = tripped;
    }
    
    if ((now - lastRequest) > (60UL * 1000UL * 60UL)){
    lastRequest = now;
    Serial.print("Heartbeat");
    sendHeartbeat();}
    }
    

  • Hero Member

    Nice sensor on a stick @sundberg84 . I have ordered a robotic lawn mower to and was thinking I would monitor this exact same thing but with a sensbender and a microswitch.


  • Hardware Contributor

    Thanks @korttoma! I was thinking about some switch, either mechanical or magnetic but the robot is not gentle at all when it enters the charging station so i descided to go with this that do not have any parts that needs to be close to eachother.



  • It's the same model I'm trying to fix the crappy rain detector, remember, we spoke about having a node on the mower that wakes and checks an external soil / rain sensor... I never did figure out the V_TEXT stuff 😉


  • Hardware Contributor

    @Mark-Swift oh, strange - my rain sensors works just fine.
    Have you talked with the support? It can just be a software issue - look at robot-forums and get the support to send you a updated software version. Its easy to just download to a USB stick and connect to the robot.



  • @sundberg84 I sure have, in fact it's been replaced already, but has made little difference - looking around, it seems a fairly common issue. I've come to the conclusion Landroid just likes to take a shower 🙂


  • Hardware Contributor

    @Mark-Swift Haha 😉 Yes - that can be the reason - its great you dont have to wash it that often then.
    I have heard the issue as well before... I hope you find a good sollution to your problem!


  • Hero Member

    I finally got my mower yesterday an as soon as I got home from work I just had to MySensor it.
    It is simply a Sensebender micro on a stick with a microswitch. So far it seems to work as expected.

    0_1463714877428_WP_20160519_18_47_14.jpg



  • Can you provide more details on wiring and more close ups of the circuit and the sensor itself?
    Thanks


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