Build manual
The goal: someone who isn't us can buy the parts, build a robot, and prove it is safe and working, with the same pass/fail style as the simulator reports in the devlog.
This is a hobby project, not a certified product
You are responsible for whatever you build. Until the blade-on checklist passes, the blade stays off the motor. A robot that drives the lawn without cutting is still a complete localization and navigation project.
How this manual is organised
It follows the four kinds of documentation (tutorials, how-to guides, reference, explanation), because a first build, a blade swap and a torque value are different jobs and need different pages.
| Kind | You want to… | Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Tutorial | build your first robot, start to finish | H1: bench and push-cart · H2: brain transplant · H3: blade on (H2 and H3 are drafts until the hardware arrives) |
| How-to | do one job | Buy the parts · Check parts on arrival |
| Reference | look something up | End-of-line test · Verification and acceptance tests · Build record and quality |
| Explanation | know why | the devlog: every design decision has a post |
The rules every page follows
- One action per step, with the tools it needs and roughly how long it takes.
- Safety notes are red boxes, inline, before the step they apply to: never in an appendix.
- Every sub-assembly ends at a checkpoint: a short test with a pass/fail result. Fail = stop. Don't build on top of a failed checkpoint; use the troubleshooting notes on that page.
- Every checkpoint is recorded in the robot's build record, so a robot's history can be traced from its serial number.
- Verification uses the simulator's reports, run on the real robot with the same thresholds (or documented, looser ones). If the sim says "localization within 5 cm RMS", the real robot has to show it too.
The build stages
| Stage | What you have at the end | Blade |
|---|---|---|
| H1 Bench and push-cart | Pi 5 + RTK GNSS + IMU on a garden cart; a surveyed lawn boundary | none |
| H2 Brain transplant | A used robot mower chassis driven by our software, docking and charging | disconnected and taped |
| H3 Blade on | Supervised mowing after the safety gate passes | on, after gate 3 |
| H4 Custom chassis | Our own frame, motors and battery (optional, later) | on |