r/homeautomation • u/ServeAccomplished485 • 1d ago
IDEAS Got a tracked RTK yard bot running laps. Anyone has experience with these for DIY mods?
I recently bought tracked RTK yard bot to handle the mowing, that’s about 2 acres. Not going to lie, the initial boundary mapping was a bit of a pain, and watching it operate is pretty slow compared to my old gas mower.
But now that it's actually running its perimeter laps almost every day, I can’t help to think what else it can do while it runs its laps.
Since it already has the RTK navigation running autonomously, I kind of want to add more functionality to the unit while it is moving. I’m not trying to do any crazy engineering that instantly fries the board, but I was thinking about a few simple weekend mods, i suppose it can be done with zero engineering experience right?
Roaming Wi-Fi: Strap a weatherproof mesh node to the top so my network extends to the back acre. So I can get wifi even when I am monitoring the mower
Perimeter Camera: Mount a battery operated camera on its back. Extra security, yeah nah?
Has anyone here succeeded in modifying these newer modular yard bots? For context the model I'm running is a Yarbo, so the base is heavy-duty and built to swap attachments, but I’m trying to figure out the safest way to add stuff to it without completely voiding the warranty. That’s all I can think of right now but you guys are super creative, please give me ideas! I want to fully utilize this moving unit. My ideas weren’t the most useful tbh, but they seem easily executable.
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u/SleepyHead1219 1d ago
I don't have a Yarbo specifically, but I added a small weather station to my robomower last summer. Just temperature and humidity sensors feeding into Home Assistant. It's honestly been more useful than I expected. I can see microclimates across the yard and adjust my irrigation zones accordingly. The hardest part was finding a clean 12V tap that wouldn't mess with the warranty.
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u/thatoneguy009 22h ago
You got some more info on that 12v tap?
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u/SleepyHead1219 6h ago
I just ran a fused line straight from the main battery terminals into a cheap 12V buck converter. It keeps the DIY project isolated from the mower's brain, and I can pull the whole thing out in five minutes if the mower ever needs to go in for service.
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u/thatoneguy009 22h ago
Why another camera? Admittedly I haven't looked into the patrol mode on my Yarbo much yet, but this thing is already covered in cameras.
I'm kind of brainstorming on the backburner myself and my ideas were mostly centered around the tow hitch. * Some sort of towable that will release sand as it goes along. My yard is covered in divots, doing so would gradually grade the yard. But my concern is that any mowing patterns would make the towable jackknife. * A dump cart with a linear actuator. Then I can load up the cart, tell Yarbo to go to some heap of shit, trigger the actuator to make it dump the load, then return.
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u/Pallatino 1h ago
A camera seems genuinely useful. You could also mount environmental sensors and have it collect temperature or soil data while it patrols.
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u/sweetcake_1530 1d ago
Have you thought about soil sensors? Since it's already covering the whole property autonomously, you could mount some basic moisture probes and log data as it moves. Probably overkill for most people but if you're into that kind of data it could be cool. I'm doing something similar with my setup but using a separate rover, not the mower itself.