Toolpathing your lawn

What does CAM software have to do with mowing your lawn? More than you might think. Consider this imaginary story in which a machine shop owner tackles that bane of suburban life.

It was a hotter-than-average summer day when he got back from his shop late one Saturday morning. He’d been doing a little cleaning up and a lot of paperwork, so his mind and body were ready for some rest and recreation.

Courtesy of CNC Software

By cutting grass using a sectioning and swabbing strategy for the mover paths, less effort is exerted.

His lawn, however, had other plans. Neglected for more than a week, it was screaming, “Mow me!”

So the shop owner got out his electric mower and started to make the usual long, overlapping paths back and forth across the slope in front of his house—awkwardly avoiding the tree, getting the cord tangled in the bushes and struggling to make the turn when the cord snapped tight at the end of a loop.

When he finished 2 hours later, his knees were doing the screaming. “You’re not getting any younger,” they said. “Why don’t you hire a lawn service or at least get a riding mower. You own a business, for goodness sakes. You don’t need to be doing this.”

During the next week, he gave a little thought to his knees’ request for relief. He analyzed the problems presented by his lawn just like he would figure out how to attack tough jobs on his CNC equipment.

First of all, he wasn’t going to hire a lawn service or buy a riding mower. Those are expensive and most of the extra cash he’ll make this year is going back into the shop.