Radio-Controlled Mower With Movable Side Cutting Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Radio-controlled mowers are unable to adapt to various terrains and cannot effectively avoid or mow around obstacles, limiting their ability to cover areas larger than their width in a single pass.
Innovation Solution
The mower features a V-shaped frame with movable side cutting units and synchronized driving wheels, allowing it to navigate challenging terrain and skirt around obstacles while maintaining stability and grip, enabling it to mow areas wider than its own width in a single pass.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If a radio-controlled mower is designed with a fixed cutting width, then it can maintain a simple structure, but it cannot mow areas larger than its width in a single passage
Solution Approach 1:
The cutting system is divided into multiple independent cutting units (central cutting unit and at least one lateral cutting unit) that can operate simultaneously. Each cutting unit has its own cutting mechanism and can be independently controlled, allowing the mower to cover a wider area by distributing cutting functions across multiple segments rather than requiring a single oversized cutting deck.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral cutting units are positioned laterally relative to the central cutting unit, extending the effective cutting width in the lateral dimension. This dimensional arrangement allows the mower to cover an area larger than its body width by utilizing space in the lateral direction through protruding cutting elements.
2Adaptability or versatility
If the mower follows a straight path, then it maintains simple navigation, but it cannot skirt around obstacles effectively
Solution Approach 1:
The lateral cutting units are designed to be movable relative to the frame, capable of extending laterally outward and retracting inward. This dynamic positioning allows the cutting units to adapt to different terrain conditions and obstacle configurations, extending outward to maximize cutting width on open terrain and retracting inward to navigate around obstacles without requiring complex path planning.
3Productivity
If the mower uses a wider cutting deck to cover more area, then it increases mowing productivity, but it cannot navigate through narrow spaces and around obstacles
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using a single wide cutting deck that would impede maneuverability, the cutting function is segmented into a central unit and separate lateral units. The lateral units can be retracted into positions that clear obstacles and narrow spaces, allowing the mower body to pass through tight areas while still maintaining the capability to extend outward for wide-area cutting when space permits.
Solution Approach 2:
The lateral cutting units are designed with movable mounting mechanisms that allow them to extend and retract relative to the frame. During navigation through narrow spaces or around obstacles, the lateral units retract inward to minimize the mower's effective width. When cutting on open terrain, they extend outward to maximize the cutting width and productivity, providing dynamic adaptation between maneuverability and productivity requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
A radio-controlled mower has a frame, an engine unit, rolling bodies configured to move the frame over an area of ground, a central cutting unit, and side cutting units. The frame and the side cutting units are mutually movable.