Aug 5 – 100000 robotic lawn mowers can sing Happy Birthday to Curiosity (opens in new tab)

(husqvarna.com)

98 pointsviblo3y ago35 comments

35 comments

There's absolutely no reason to do this, and yet it's awesome and I'm glad Husqvarna is doing it.

Now I want to look at a new robomower!

There is indeed absolutely no reason to do this - and I'm personally anti-lawn (I prefer a nice naturally overgrown green space outside my home). But even I can get on the "this is awesome" train.

rootusrootus3y ago

> Now I want to look at a new robomower!

Me too. And then I saw the price (of the higher end Husqvarna at least). Ha! Nevermind.

micromacrofoot3y ago

The reason is marketing

netsharc3y ago

Haha, yeah, just look at the second line of the grandparent comment...

_Adam3y ago

Fortunately this is opt-in. Imagine being that guy managing a fleet of these things mowing a giant golf course and three times a day just stop for no reason and start singing.

sandworm1013y ago

If they are automated, how would you know?

james_in_the_uk3y ago

If a tree falls in a forest ...

qohen3y ago

Was anyone else expecting a lawn-mower-based version of the Floppotron[0]?

(E.g. here's the Star Wars theme[1] played by the Floppotron, from the inventor's YouTube channel[2]).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppotron

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KS02q0BUnY

[2] https://www.youtube.com/user/sh4dowww90/videos

butz3y ago

Sounds fun and all, but mark my words - after a year or two we will see some bug reports about lawn mowers randomly singing "Happy Birthday", and no one will know why.

valleyer3y ago

Archelaos3y ago

> the loneliest robot in the universe

No. This was and will always be Marvin the Paranoid Android getting stuck on Sqornshellous Zeta for 1.5 million years.

squarefoot3y ago

Also, Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and a few others may disagree. (Would Viking 1 and 2 qualify as robots?)

drewzero13y ago

I'll be very concerned if Curiosity finds any mattresses up there to converse with.

jaclaz3y ago

It will need to find a swamp first.

1 more reply

divbzero3y ago

Can Curiosity really claim the title of “loneliest robot in the universe”?

sandworm1013y ago

I'd put the voyager probes as more lonely. Not to mention any number of defunct spacecraft that are still operating out there. They don't have off switches. Somewhere out there is a space probe periodically trying to phone home only to discover we are no longer listening.

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/843493304/long-lost-u-s-milit...

""The oldest one I've seen is Transit 5B-5. And it launched in 1965," he says, referring to a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy navigation satellite that still circles the Earth in a polar orbit, long forgotten by all but a few amateurs interested in hearing it "sing" as it passes overhead."

samschooler3y ago

This reminds me of the article "What football will look like in 17776?" a short story about football from the perspective of space probes. https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football

1 more reply

machinerychorus3y ago

Yeah, mars is getting pretty crowded at this point! I guess the voyager probes might be lonelier, if you count them as robots.

athenot3y ago

At least as lonely as WALL-E...

Banana6993y ago

No, because a robot cannot feel loneliness yet.

stuff4ben3y ago

Relevant xkcd... https://xkcd.com/695/

Dinux3y ago

That is so sad :(

tfehring3y ago

There's a fan-made version (I think from xkcdsw) with a happier ending https://i.imgur.com/VbKV9DF.jpeg

numbers3y ago

this is the sorta thing that makes you realize we're all human and maybe we like all these cool toys b/c they're fun

zachruss923y ago

I absolutely love this.

ck23y ago

Ha feels worthy of a minor plot-line out of (future) Futurama

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

35 comments

happyopossum3y ago

There's absolutely no reason to do this, and yet it's awesome and I'm glad Husqvarna is doing it.

Now I want to look at a new robomower!

munk-a3y ago

There is indeed absolutely no reason to do this - and I'm personally anti-lawn (I prefer a nice naturally overgrown green space outside my home). But even I can get on the "this is awesome" train.

rootusrootus3y ago

> Now I want to look at a new robomower!

Me too. And then I saw the price (of the higher end Husqvarna at least). Ha! Nevermind.

micromacrofoot3y ago

The reason is marketing

netsharc3y ago

Haha, yeah, just look at the second line of the grandparent comment...

_Adam3y ago

Fortunately this is opt-in. Imagine being that guy managing a fleet of these things mowing a giant golf course and three times a day just stop for no reason and start singing.

sandworm1013y ago

If they are automated, how would you know?

james_in_the_uk3y ago

If a tree falls in a forest ...

qohen3y ago

Was anyone else expecting a lawn-mower-based version of the Floppotron[0]?

(E.g. here's the Star Wars theme[1] played by the Floppotron, from the inventor's YouTube channel[2]).

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppotron

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3KS02q0BUnY

[2] https://www.youtube.com/user/sh4dowww90/videos

butz3y ago

Sounds fun and all, but mark my words - after a year or two we will see some bug reports about lawn mowers randomly singing "Happy Birthday", and no one will know why.

valleyer3y ago

Archelaos3y ago

> the loneliest robot in the universe

No. This was and will always be Marvin the Paranoid Android getting stuck on Sqornshellous Zeta for 1.5 million years.

squarefoot3y ago

Also, Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and a few others may disagree. (Would Viking 1 and 2 qualify as robots?)

drewzero13y ago

I'll be very concerned if Curiosity finds any mattresses up there to converse with.

jaclaz3y ago

It will need to find a swamp first.

1 more reply

divbzero3y ago

Can Curiosity really claim the title of “loneliest robot in the universe”?

sandworm1013y ago

https://www.npr.org/2020/04/24/843493304/long-lost-u-s-milit...

samschooler3y ago

This reminds me of the article "What football will look like in 17776?" a short story about football from the perspective of space probes. https://www.sbnation.com/a/17776-football

1 more reply

machinerychorus3y ago

Yeah, mars is getting pretty crowded at this point! I guess the voyager probes might be lonelier, if you count them as robots.

athenot3y ago

At least as lonely as WALL-E...

Banana6993y ago

No, because a robot cannot feel loneliness yet.

stuff4ben3y ago

Relevant xkcd... https://xkcd.com/695/

Dinux3y ago

That is so sad :(

tfehring3y ago