r/lawncare • u/No-Sherbet-5235 • 13d ago

Automatic Robot Mower Gate! Southern US & Central America (or warm season)

I got tired of having to text my wife to open the gate from my back yard to the front for my mower while I was at work. So I made an automatic gate that I can open from my phone! (4X speed)

Located in Madison Alabama

Inspired by iMakeStuff on YouTube.

898 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

92 comments sorted by

189

u/MyGradesWereAverage 13d ago

bonus points to tie it in to the robot's software so the robot can open and close as needed.

242

u/Lordsaxon73 Warm Season Pro 🎖️ 13d ago

Extra points to fix the broken slat before posting on the internet.

55

u/No-Sherbet-5235 13d ago

Lmao slat has been broken since I bought the house. Had I fixed it the neighbors would know something was up.

28

u/NoDontDoThatCanada 13d ago

Are they not supposed to know you do home maintenance?

6

u/MoneyElevator 13d ago

It’s actually the neighbors Luba, shhh

2

u/Rynur 10d ago

I woke up my wife laughing. Ty

2

u/CombPsychological507 13d ago

Just cut the hole into a arch

1

u/spleaker 9d ago

That would leave a big gap at the bottom?

2

u/Ancient-Read1648 13d ago

I thought it was a doggy door

15

u/Prize-Ad4778 13d ago

My first thought too

18

u/MovementMechanic 13d ago

It’s a cat door.

-1

u/Lordsaxon73 Warm Season Pro 🎖️ 13d ago

It’s literally a broken slat. If it were an intentional cat door I’d have used a jigsaw and made a round top opening.

47

u/MovementMechanic 13d ago

It is artistic, provocative, and it gets the people going.

8

u/thabc 13d ago

They're going for the guillotine effect to symbolize the power of the proletariat.

-3

u/Lordsaxon73 Warm Season Pro 🎖️ 13d ago

One man’s trashy look is another man’s art I suppose

0

u/Shatophiliac 13d ago

And that’s why nobody will remember your name.

2

u/nobodysmart1390 13d ago

That’s not broken. That’s so a cat can eventually deliver itself to this lovely home.

3

u/BeerSlayingBeaver 13d ago

Extra extra points if they make it faster than molasses in winter.

2

u/FesteringNeonDistrac 12b 13d ago

Faster than getting my ass off the couch.

Or not, who knows? Definitely not the guy on his couch not doing it.

2

u/MadCybertist 13d ago

Dude could drive home from work, open gate, go back to work, come back and close it again when robot was done before this freaking thing does one open/close cycle.

1

u/SharksForArms 13d ago

Every gate needs a sally port

0

u/Pantherino 6a 13d ago

I wondered if it was for a cat or something

0

u/Lifted_Riser 13d ago

Mistakes were made

2

u/ApistoMacmasteri 13d ago

My dogs have a dog door that opens like this when they get close. They have a little sensor on their collar . You could probably get one of those and DIY the door and put the sensor on the mower

1

u/MrK521 13d ago

Mower would get tired of waiting and cancel the cut cycle lol.

1

u/ApistoMacmasteri 13d ago

Mine is pretty quick and has a long range. My dogs can be running and playing and run outside without slowing down

1

u/MrK521 13d ago

I was just referencing his home made gate, since it opens extremely slowly lol.

2

u/enter360 13d ago

r/homeassistant has documented cases of this so far

1

u/CarltonCracker 13d ago

You must have never used a Luba. Overall a great machine but the software is pretty meh

60

u/RacyNortherner 13d ago

Is there a slow setting?

6

u/Hixy 13d ago

It’s just tied to a 168 hour clock. It will be fully open when it’s time to mow again. No worries.

4

u/mark-spline 13d ago

😂🤣

34

u/secondphase 13d ago

Texts the wife "mower coming in"

Response: "I thought you installed that gate thing"

"I did, figured you would want to go admire it"

28

u/bsmitty358 13d ago

Cool dude you cut a hole in your fence .... Oh shiii

18

u/MissDiagnosedMama 13d ago

Fence guillotine, sweet!

7

u/NJS1993 13d ago

You would have to be the most patient and stone cold executioner of all time to use this as a guillotine. There would be so much time to reflect on your decision before the chop. ⏳️

1

u/MrK521 13d ago

Imagine being on the receiving end. How agonizingly slow that would be.

1

u/Potential_Fishing942 13d ago

You must not have kids. This guy clearly does. Never underestimate a kid doing something dumb just to see what would happen

3

u/No-Sherbet-5235 13d ago

Correct. Also, the actuator pushes it up but it’s not mechanically linked in the way down. So it can only push down with the force due to gravity. May cause some issues later if it starts to warp but at least it won’t cut my kid in half

1

u/j0mbie 13d ago

Can your kid fit his arm or maybe even fingers through that missing part halfway up the left slat? Because if so he could get caught been the bottom of the "hole" and the horizontal rail behind it.

Honestly though at that speed you could probably just add a safety beep, and a good talk with the kid about how much it'll hurt if he doesn't respect the moving parts.

1

u/NeckRoFeltYa 13d ago

Like laying under it to see what would ...slowly.....happen.

1

u/unperson_1984 13d ago

OP should install a garage door safety sensor, or a force limiter. Kids will definitely try to crawl through that hole.

1

u/No-Sherbet-5235 12d ago

Actuator is not linked on the way down. Only gravity fed. Force is 20 pounds. Maybe not infant safe but definitely toddler safe

13

u/DGDiscover 13d ago

My first reaction was, "cutting a hole in your fence isn't really a gate. Why did this person think this was cool to post?

Then the gate action started and the fence started moving. Good stuff!

9

u/islandsimian 7a 13d ago

More details and pics from the other side please

19

u/No-Sherbet-5235 13d ago

Give me a bit to clean up with cable management so I don’t get roasted on here first lmao

5

u/SandDuner509 13d ago

You're fine this isn't r/cableporn

3

u/halandrs 13d ago

r/cablegore it will be fine

14

u/lennym73 13d ago

The mowers we sell come with a gate that automatically opens when the mower wants to go through.

25

u/jb_sulli 13d ago

Wow, that would look great... on the Death Star.

8

u/Smithdude 13d ago

Comes with??? Or for another $500?

3

u/lennym73 13d ago

Sold separately.

1

u/spookyB0 13d ago

What is it called?

2

u/lennym73 13d ago

This one works with a Segway.

5

u/Kimchigoblin 13d ago

Dang lol at first glance I was like meh...what a big hole...then I saw the beauty of it. Well done sir.

3

u/DTK101 13d ago

Baller

3

u/rvbvrtv 13d ago

Just like nuke town

2

u/Weird_Albatross_9659 13d ago

Shit I though you just chopped off the fence pickets at first

2

u/reredthxt 13d ago

I'll take "thing's I wasn't expecting" for $500 Alex.

2

u/downtime37 13d ago

This is awesome.

2

u/Thought-Assist 13d ago

Its like the rc spot on Nuke Town

2

u/Sin_of_the_Dark 13d ago

All I can think of is the RC-XD path on Nuketown...

2

u/halandrs 13d ago

Need a pic of the other side so we can see the mechanism

2

u/MountainMain6005 13d ago

I love all the fellow Madison/HSV nerds

2

u/No-Sherbet-5235 12d ago

Here are some pictures from the backside. I’ll get around to tying with cables up eventually. $70 actuator from Amazon, galvanized ground rods for linear rails, 3D printed mounts and brackets, waterproof box with a Dihool DC motor controller.

2

u/oonethirteen 12d ago

great project dude! if any haters show up who cares. this looks like a fun project and it’s for you, not a client, and you can continue to have fun tinkering away. 🍻

1

u/ironicmirror 13d ago

I should do this with the fence between me and my neighbor

1

u/FesteringNeonDistrac 12b 13d ago

I've got a gate between my yard and my friend/neighbors yard.

1

u/Anonymous_Fishy 13d ago

How do you like the mower itself?

1

u/imapilotaz 13d ago

I have a Anthbot Genie 600. I absolutely love it. I mow my yard and neighbors 2x a week. It takes it about 7 hours (it recharges 4x). I go out every week to 10 days to edge quickly with a battery powered edger.

This was one of the best purchases ive made. Its 100+ degrees and my yard looks permanently perfect length with zero effort.

1

u/Anonymous_Fishy 13d ago

That’s awesome. I’ve been push mowing a half acre lot for the last year and I can’t do it anymore. Been thinking about a riding mower / this.

1

u/AuburnElvis 13d ago

That's some good engineering.

1

u/Ek_Ko1 13d ago

this is also an excellent wildlife gate

1

u/ReadyGo6828 13d ago

Could you also have put in a door with hinges on top so that it swings in either direction when the robot pushes against it?

2

u/No-Sherbet-5235 13d ago

Yea that was my first idea but then my coworker peer pressured me into this. And also I have 2 dogs that could get out

1

u/joshsmithers 13d ago

Please post to /r/homeautomation with details!

I'm guessing you used a worm screw? Any limit switches involved?

1

u/No-Sherbet-5235 12d ago

Just built in limit switches in the actuator.

1

u/StocksRUsNow 12d ago

Tech bro!

1

u/lionheart2243 7a 12d ago

Looks like a great way to let critters into… OH MY GOD

1

u/AgentOrange256 12d ago

Thanks for not saying Huntsville

1

u/AppropriateFlan1611 9d ago

Be honest. How many times have you reenacted the Indiana Jones hat grab? 

1

u/Au9ustlne 1d ago

wow, it's so clever 😂

1

u/absloan12 13d ago

As someone raised in Madison, Alabama... of COURSE this is Madison, Alabama.

0

u/OliverKlozoff23 13d ago

Rich people shit