GROVER (Grass-Rover)

Internal Circuitry
Complete Design

Inspiration

What kind of technology (and specifically robot) would make life easier for the average person while interacting with nature.

What it does

GROVER is an automated lawn maintenance rover with the ability to transverse a yard while checking for dead spots and reseeding the lawn.

How we built it

GROVER uses Arduino, the motor kit, and beginner kit sensors to update based on its environment.

Challenges we ran into

Battery voltage and circuit design, motor strength, component availability, circuit building technique, and weight-to-strength ratio of the design.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Working in place of an ultrasonic range sensor to design a method of obstacle avoidance! Designing and executing a complete prototype in 24 hours!

What we learned

The greatest limitation of mechanical design with Arduino and other related sensors is the strength and accuracy of motors and sensors. We learned to work within a range of errors and to incorporate sensors to adapt the behavior of our robot.

What's next for GROVER

GROVER would be improved by the addition of ultrasonic distance sensors for maneuverability and the creation of a decision tree to use multiple sensors to determine whether grass is present at any location.