08. Installation
The layout of the mower is important to get right. Here are a few pointers.
| Point | Description |
|---|---|
| Distance | Keep a distance of at least 200 mm between the BWF coil reciever and the motors. The motors emit noise which are picked up by the coil and creates disturbances. A sure sign of this problem is if the mower starts to rotate in the middle of the lawn where the signal is as weakest. |
| Wheel placement | Metal can disturb the coils so try to avoid placing the wheels right below the coils. One solution can be to use only one wheel inbetween the coils or to have a bow made out of plastic instead. |
| Weight | Try to keep the center of gravity slightly in front of the rear wheels. This provides best possible grip to the wheels and make it easier for the mower to turn. There is of course a balance because you do not want the mower to tip in an uphill slope. |
| Cables | Twist all cables to minimize disturbance signals to the coils. Keep them as short as possible. |
| Controller | We have designed the controller board such that the all power connections are at the back side of the board and all signal connections on the front side. This is of course with the intention of separating them as much as possible. Placing the board in line with this (front pointing towards the sensors) and keeping the cables separated as much as possible with help significantly. |
| Brushless motor | One great advantage with the brushless cutter motor is that the noise emission is much less. |
| Cutter blades | Cutter blades are made out of metal and most of them are magnetic. We have found that if the cutter disk is placed so that the blades pass close to the coils, they can create fake signals. |
This picture shows a small installation of the BWF wire in the garden.
The base station is to the left. Make a small corridor between ingoing and outgoing wire - approx 1m in length. Small enough so that the mower will not find its way in in normal operation, but wide enough that the wires will not eliminate the magnetic field. A distance of approx 100-150 mm is good.
Make a habit of avoiding sharp corners. Break them up into 45 degree corners instead.
The island in the middle is an optional feature. The wires going out to the island are put next to the wires returning from it. This way the magnetic field will cancel out in this area and the mower will not sense this part of the wire. It will just sense the island and the outer boundary.
A good way to put the wire down in the ground is to use a shovel and make a small trace where you can put the wire in. An even quicker way is to use a high pressure washing compressor to basically "draw" a trace in the lawn. This is an extremely quick and easy way to get the wire in position.
Make sure you leave 200-300 mm between the wire and any outside fence or wall. The mower must have space to return home along the wire and it has a wiggling motion to get there which requires some extra area.
Here are a few instruction movies which applies also for Liam