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Objective The objective of this study was to describe recent trends in the epidemiology of lawn mower injuries presenting to the Emergency Department in the United States using nationally representative data for all ages. Methods Data for this retrospective analysis were obtained from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), for the years 2005–2015. We queried the system using all product codes under “lawn mowers” in the NEISS Coding Manual. We examined body part injured, types of injuries, gender and age distribution, and disposition. Results There were an estimated 934,394 lawn mower injuries treated in U.S. ED's from 2005 to 2015, with an average of 84,944 injuries annually. The most commonly injured body parts were the hand/finger (22.3%), followed by the lower extremity (16.2%). The most common type of injury was laceration (23.1%), followed by sprain/strain (18.8%). The mean age of individuals injured was 46.5 years, and men were more than three times as likely to be injured as women. Patients presenting to the ED were far more likely to be discharged home after treatment (90.5%) than to be admitted (8.5%). Conclusion Lawn mowers continue to account for a large number of injuries every year in the United States. The incidence of lawn mower injuries showed no decrease during the period of 2005–2015. Preventative measures should take into account the epidemiology of these injuries.

This work examines the use of co-simulation in the development and optimisation of a steering system for a driverless industrial size lawn mower. Initial models of the kinematics, dynamics and steering control system are co-simulated to investigate the performance of the controller in a virtual setting. The co-simulation consists of a Continuous-Time (CT) model of the lawn mower kinematics and dynamics and a Discrete-Event (DE) model of the steering controller modelled in VDM-RT. The models are co-simulated by the use of the Co-simulation Orchestration Engine which is a core tool of the INTO-CPS project. The CT model of the lawn mower is calibrated and verified experimentally. The result of co-simulation is in a similar fashion verified by comparing the simulated and measured trajectories.

The automation of lawn mower can eliminate a lot of boring manual work. With the application of the intelligent technology, especially the automatic detection of grass boundary, the lawn mower can maintain the lawn regularly. However, typical boundary detection technology requires the user to set up a border wire around the lawn that defines the area to be mowed, which is a time-consuming and boring operation. Through a broad analysis of the characteristics of grass and non-grass terrain, in this paper, a novel device is designed to automatically detect the grass boundary. Without any prior manual work, lawn mower with our detection device can adapt to all kinds of grass environment. Our device requires only a line infrared light source and a camera with bandpass infrared filter. Light source, camera and grass make up a triangulation. With a simple but effective approach, grass boundary is detected robustly in the continuous frames. The practical experimental results on a variety of non-grass terrains and grasses demonstrate the effectiveness and the robustness of our method.

Investigate the epidemiology of lawn mower-related injuries to children in the US.A retrospective analysis was conducted of children younger than 18years of age treated in US emergency departments for a lawn mower-related injury from 1990 through 2014 using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.An estimated 212,258 children18years of age received emergency treatment for lawn mower-related injuries from 1990 through 2014, equaling an average annual rate of 11.9 injuries per 100,000 US children. The annual injury rate decreased by 59.9% during the 25-year study period. The leading diagnosis was a laceration (38.5%) and the most common body region injured was the hand/finger (30.7%). Struck by (21.2%), cut by (19.9%), and contact with a hot surface (14.1%) were the leading mechanisms of injury. Patients5years old were more likely (RR 7.01; 95% CI: 5.69-8.64) to be injured from contact with a hot surface than older patients. A projectile was associated with 49.8% of all injuries among patients injured as bystanders. Patients injured as passengers or bystanders were more likely (RR 3.77; 95% CI: 2.74-5.19) to be admitted to the hospital than lawnmower operators.Lawn mower-related injuries continue to be a cause of serious morbidity among children. Although the annual injury rate decreased significantly over the study period, the number of injuries is still substantial, indicating the need for additional prevention efforts. In addition to educational approaches, opportunities exist for improvements in mower design and lawn mower safety standards.

The University of Michigan Supermileage (UMSM) team is an engineering design team with the goal of building a vehicle that achieves 3,300 mi/gal using a gas-powered lawn mower engine.

As people's living conditions have become increasingly demanding, increasing domestic urban green area of lawn machinery has entered a rapid development period. Through research and analysis of the existing lawn mower, the existing problems, combined with innovative ways of thinking based on a systematic theory of constraints on mower innovative designs were proposed to trim shrubs and grass and trim the corners mechanical integration , innovative design out of a small area of green space suit, while low noise and environmentally friendly multifunctional mower. And using computer software to carry out important parts of the mower mechanical analysis.

In 1830 Patent no. 6081 described "a new combination and application of machinery for the purpose of cropping and shearing the vegetable surface of lawns". Remarkably, until that point there had been no commercially available mechanical device for trimming 'greenswards' (lawns) to an even height. Historically, until the Romans popularised the scythe in the 5th century BC, the only option for keeping your turf neat and tidy was livestock grazing.

In this work, we have tested a new approach for evolving modular programs: Kaizen Programming (KP) with e-Linear Genetic Programming (e-LGP) and a heuristic search procedure to solve the well-known Lawn Mower problem. KP is a novel hybrid approach that tries to efficiently combine partial solutions to generate a high-quality complete solution. Being a hybrid, KP may use different types of methods to generate partial solutions, assess their importance to the complete solution, and solve the complete problem. Experiments on the Lawn Mower problem show that the proposed method is effective in finding the expected solution. It is a new alternative for evolving modular programs, but further investigations are necessary to improve its performance.

This video illustrates an example on how arbitrary landscapes can be used as organic display surfaces for situating real world augmentations in novel ways, enabling new design dimension in seeing and perceiving the world from above. As drones with integrated cameras are becoming more popular and may soon be ubiquitous, seeing the world from above may interest more and more people. The presented video demonstrates a novel approach for creating large-scale art works that are built into landscapes. We call this DroneLandArt. In the video a green grass field is used as a large-scale display surface for a huge smiley, made with the help of a video-enabled drone and a lawn mower. In this paper, we discuss motivational aspects of the work and the creative process involved.

A sulky is a single-wheeled platform attachment on which the operator of a commercial walk-behind lawn mower rides while standing. The effects of sulky vibration on operator comfort and health have not been investigated. In this study, tri-axial accelerometers measured sulky vibration during mower use by two commercial mowers on varied terrain and 12 volunteer mowers over a controlled course. The accelerometer data were processed according to methods established in ISO 2631. Results indicate the mean frequency-weighted root mean square (RMS) acceleration sums fall into the 'very uncomfortable' range for vibration of standing persons (1.9 ± 0.48 m s⁻²). Additionally, vibration dose values indicated that the mean vibration dosages exceeded the daily exposure limit values established in Directive 2002 /44/EC (z-axis A(8) value of 1.30 ± 34 m s⁻²; VDV(exp) value of 28.1 ± 6.25 m s⁻¹·⁷⁵). This information suggests that modifications including vibration damping should be added to the sulky to reduce rider discomfort and health risks.This study investigated the effects of vibration during use of a commercial lawn mowing sulky. Findings from accelerometer data suggest that the vibration experienced by sulky operators is significant enough to cause discomfort and health risks which may lead to personnel turnover or long-term effects for the operator.

In order to study the wear between machine wheel and soil-environment resources during alfalfa mowing, the gray iron and loess were chosen as sample materials to research the abrasive wear behavior at different speed and load condition by abrasive wear testing machine. The scanning electron microscopy was used to observe the wear surface morphology. The results showed that, peripheral speed and load had significant effects on wear resistance of materials. When the peripheral speed in 1m/s~2.5m/s and the load in constant, wear quantity decreased gradually with the peripheral speed increased. When the load in 40N~110N and peripheral speed in constant, the wear mass loss increased as the load increased. After that, the wear volume dropped gradually as the load increased. The main wear form is peeled off and micro cutting. The research results would provide references for improving the wear resistance of the wheel

Many jobs and tasks involve hand control requiring large forces, awkward positions and/or high repetition rates which may lead to upper limb injury or illness. The operation of commercial lawn mowing machines involves a combination of these factors for actuation of hand controls and therefore may pose a safety concern for the operators. A nontraditional control system currently implemented on a commercially-available lawn mower may reduce some of the precursors for upper limb illness or injury due to hand and body positioning. This preliminary study compared maximum grip strength in nine different orientations (combinations of 3 different grip spans and 3 different positions). The results showed that there was a difference between the three different grip spans (p < 0.0001) and a difference between positions (p < 0.0001). The position of the nontraditional control system and the smallest grip span (6.3cm) facilitated the highest grip forces. Further investigation is required to better understand the impact on users of repetitive actuation in these orientations specifically while mowing.

The nineteenth century was an era of enormous changes in garden design and garden practice. A wealth of new and exotic plants, located and shipped back by adventurous plant hunters from southern Europe and other, warmer continents, changed the look and character of the garden beyond recognition. The repeal of the glass tax and advances in iron and glass production initiated the craze of the glass house. “Bedding out” consequently became popular, a system in which delicate plants grown under glass could be planted straight outside in warmer months, producing instant colour and ending the frustrating months of bare beds during which gardeners waited for native perennials to bloom. And there were many other important technological advances to ease the lot of the Victorian gardener, such as the patenting of the first lawn mower in 1830 and improvements in tool design. Moreover, with huge advances in printing press technology and distribution, a slew of gardening magazines and gardening manuals sprang up to educate and aid the amateur gardener. The rise of the middle class, housed in suburban terraces and villas with small gardens front and back, produced a ready market for such texts.

First, the clothing and shoes from 29 participants who had recently filled their vehicles with petrol were analysed for any traces of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on any of these items. Secondly, the clothing and shoes from 17 participants who had recently used a petrol-powered lawn mower were also analysed for petrol. Petrol was detected on two pairs of shoes from different participants. Components of petrol were detected on a set of clothing from a third participant, however, there were insufficient components present in this sample to confirm the presence of petrol. No traces of petrol were found on the items from the remaining 14 participants. Thirdly, the clothing from a forecourt attendant, a mechanic and a professional lawn mower were analysed at the end of a number of shifts. Petrol was detected on the upper and lower clothing from the forecourt attendant at the end of one shift. No petrol residues were found on the forecourt attendant after a second shift, or on the mechanic's clothing after two separate shifts or on the professional lawn mower's clothing after three separate shifts. These results can be used to assist the forensic analyst in assessing the chance of finding traces of petrol on clothing and shoes after the wearer has performed common activities that involve petrol.

We describe 2 patients injured in the maxillofacial region while using a power lawn mower (lawn mower). One patient was a 82-year-old man who accidentally fell while using a lawn mower and collided with the edge of a lawn mower operated by a fellow worker. The upper lip, cheek, neck, and shoulder were severely cut, and the mandible was fractured. The other patient was a 56-year-old woman in whom a fragment of the broken edge of a lawn mower operated by herself stuck the upper lip. The fragment was not noticed, and a tumor developed 2 months later. The tumor containing the fragment was excised.

PurposeIn spite of having a number of general‐purpose algorithms for solving plant layout problems, facility planners may still face a challenging task to adjust these algorithms to handle special, but not uncommon, layout problems. The purpose of this study is to propose a new method for addressing the impact of overhead space utilization on a plant layout solution.Design/methodology/approachA new method for adjusting material flow under a mixed floor and overhead material handling condition is incorporated in an existing plant layout procedure. A case study involving the layout improvement in a lawn mower engine assembly facility is presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.FindingsThe analysis of solutions for the case study shows that the layout generated by the proposed modified material flow approach is a more economical solution. The case also shows, when it is important to optimize the use of space, the overhead space should be considered as part of any methodology for designing a good layout.Research limitations/implicationsThe proposed modified material flow approach can be applied to any facility where the use of overhead space for material handling is justifiable by limited floor space and/or by high cost of land. The proposed method can be applied to small to medium size problems with minimal computational effort. However, as the size of facility grows, the manual calculation becomes more time consuming and potentially erratic.Originality/valueThis paper should be useful to both researchers and practitioners who deal with overhead space utilization in designing facility layouts.

Diplomsko delo opisuje načrtovanje, zgradbo in delovanje daljinsko vodene kosilnice. Ta se največkrat uporablja na težko dostopnih ali nevarnih terenih. Kosilnica je sestavljena iz predelanega ohišja klasične kosilnice, namensko razvite pogonske osi s 4 »in wheel« motorji, razvojnega sistema sbRIO-9651 in ostale elektronike. Za delovanje potrebujemo vezja za: napajanje, meritev napetosti enosmerne zbiralke, razširitveno vezje in vezje z varovalkami. Vezje za meritev napetosti med drugim sestavlja tudi mikrokrmilnik ATmega, za katerega smo spisali program v razvojnem okolju Arduino. V razvojnem okolju LabVIEW je bil izdelan program za meritev dolžine pulzov z uporabo razvojnega sistema sbRIO-9651, ki je osnova za delovanje ultrazvočnih senzorjev in RC sprejemnika. The diploma thesis describes planning, structure and work principle of remote controlled lawn mower, which are usually used on difficult to access or dangerous terrains. Lawn mower consists of modified body, specially developed drive axle with 4 “in wheel” motors, sbRIO-9651 development system and other electronics. For proper functioning we also need electronic circuits for: power distribution, DC link voltage measurement, expansion circuit and circuit with fuses. Circuit for DC link voltage measurement also has a microcontroller ATmega for which we made a program in Arduino development environment. Program that captures lengths of multiple signals that we need for proper functioning of RC receiver and ultrasonic sensors was made in development environment LabVIEW and deployed to sbRIO-9651 real-time controller.

Fred Whyte, president of US-based STIHL, speaks about the outdoor power equipment produced by STIHL with the same kind of care and deliberation you would expect from someone who was clearing trees with one of the firm’s legendary chain saws. He has been with the company for 42 years—the last 25 as president of US operations. Before that, he was the president of STIHL Canada for 10 years. Whyte remains a Canadian citizen, a fact concealed by a Midwestern accent that avoids even the occasional “eh.” When we met with him, we started with this question: “Was there ever a moment that you were tempted to sell through the big-box stores?” He paused for a moment and then followed with an emphatic, “Unequivocally, no.” And then he said, “You can’t be all things to all people. You have to know who you are and what you are going to be when you grow up.”

Our hydrogen-powered lawn mower [Yvon K, Lorenzoni J-L. Hydrogen powered lawn mower. Int J Hydrogen Energy 1993; 18, 345–48] has been operated without major interruption during the past 14 years. The commercial model was originally running on gasoline and was adapted to hydrogen by making small adjustments to the carburettor and by installing a hydrogen reservoir containing solid-state metal hydrides. During the evaluation period the only maintenance work was changing the lubricating oil of the engine once a year, and reactivating the metal hydride powder by external heating after an accidental inlet of air into the reservoir. There occurred no technical failure, and there was no safety incident, neither during operation nor during recharging of hydrogen. This demonstrates that a hydrogen-operated device of this type is mature for use by greater public. Cost and marketing issues are discussed.

Electromagnetic interference with implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) can cause inappropriate shock delivery or temporary inhibition of ICD functions. We present a case of electromagnetic interference between a lawn mower and an ICD resulting in an inappropriate discharge of the device due to erroneous detection of ventricular fibrillation.

The presence of clopyralid, a selective broadleaf herbicide, in compost near Spokane, Washington in 2000 was attributed to grass clippings collected from area lawns and subsequently used as compost feedstock. A field study was conducted in 2001 to evaluate the effects of herbicide formulation and mowing practice on the clopyralid content of grass clippings. The objective was to develop guidelines that would limit the concentration of clopyralid in clippings, thereby reducing the amount of clopyralid entering the compost production stream. Clopyralid was applied to turfgrass as either a sprayable (S) or granular (G) formulation. Grass clippings were either collected in a bagging lawn mower and removed from the plots or returned into the plant canopy using a mulching mower designed to finely chop and disperse the leaf blades. Clippings were sampled for a period of ten weeks after application, and again in the summer of 2002, and analyzed for clopyralid content. Mowing treatment had no significant effect on ...

The most miraculous thing at the 1960 Miracle Garden Exhibition in Paris had to be the H.C. Webb & Co. radio-controlled electric lawn mower. The machine, which ran off an electric motor powered by two 12-volt car batteries, was by all accounts quite successful. Somehow, though, it failed to inspire a new era of sedentary lawn care, much to the disappointment of suburban teenagers everywhere.

The Internet of Things (IoT) holds the promise of improved programmatic user control over domestic appliances. The developed world dominates the design of programming environments, assuming letteracy and computer literacy on the part of the programmer. In developing areas, this assumption raises the bar for novice programmers and especially pre-school children from differing socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds. In general, our research aims at developing a programming environment that does not require either computer literacy or letteracy from the programmer, thereby affording the novice user the opportunity to control appliances connected to the IoT. A tangible environment can potentially remove both of these obstacles. Also of special interest to our research is giving the programmer the opportunity to craft her own tangible objects, giving the objects personalised properties. To this end we report on how well pre-school children from differing socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds were able to use a tangible programming environment consisting of direction indicator arrows, crafted from soft stone. In addition we provide examples of further objects that could be used as programming objects. Finally, we show the steps involved in constructing a tangible program with which the user can hypothetically instruct a lawn mower though the IoT.

‘Mods’ are modifications that come about when things do not quite fit as a result of changing conditions. They represent an almost infinite combinability of ideas, materials and applications and demonstrate makers’ aptitude for innovative responses. Drawing on examples I describe how makers mod not only technical materials but also find themselves tinkering with the broader technological landscape, social relations and stories as a means of dealing with socio-technical incoherence and instability. This chapter also discusses the Do-it-Together (DiT) nature of the network — the fact that it cannot be built alone. It requires the help of many others including families, partners, sisters, mothers, fathers and friends.

Nowadays, the trader is forced to navigate a plethora of information about the products it has to offer. For the customer, some characteristics of a product are more important than others. The salesperson must consider this information. Therefore, sales-people often use computers in order to serve customers quickly. Conventional programming languages are based on Boolean logic. They are well suited to develop systems whose behaviour can be well represented by mathematical models. However, in terms of developing systems that mimic human-like decision-making, mathematical models fall short. Human judgment and evaluation neither follows Boolean logic, nor any other conventional mathematical discipline. This paper seeks to show the benefits of using fuzzy logic in trading. It shows a simple and very fast system that demonstrates how to select a suitable lawn mower, according to customer requirements and preferences. The proposed system can then be used on any offered range. The benefits of such a system are then confronted with the opinions of sales-people themselves. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

This study deals with the heat treatment on the edge of a die using YAG laser on-the-machine tool. First, the temperatures based on a theoretical model during laser irradiation were investigated in order to prevent the melting phenomena of the workpiece surface. Second, heat treatment experiments on the edge of a workpiece were carried out using this system. Quenched part was observed by an optical microscope. As a result, it was confirmed that the calculated results were in good agreement with the experimental ones. Finally, the edge of a lawn mower blade was treated by the selected condition from above results.

Lawn mowers constitute a significant injury threat to children in the United States. Routine surveillance of injuries associated with riding mowers is needed in an effort to aid in the evaluation of the effectiveness of prevention efforts, such as changes in machine design. Because 25% of the injuries resulted in amputations and over half resulted in hospitalization, the potential severity of these injuries warrants further prevention efforts. Prevention efforts that group lawn mowers into a single category may not be highly productive as injuries associated with riding lawn movers vary widely in their cause, age groups affected and severity. These include assurances that children are not present in a yard when riding lawn mower is in use, never allowing children to ride as a passenger on a riding lawn mower, and increased awareness among riding lawn mower operators that children may be present. While passive protection in the form of better design of machines is a mainstay of prevention, continued education of operators, bystanders and child care providers is still needed.

Catalytic conversion is an important tool in environmental-remediation strategies and source removal of pollutants. Because a catalyst is regenerated, the chemistry can be extremely effective for conversion of undesirable pollutant species to less harmful products in situations where the pollutants have accumulated or are being continuously produced. An important and well-known application is the catalytic converter in the exhaust system of an automobile. We have developed a laboratory experience that qualitatively demonstrates the use of a catalytic converter to decrease emissions from the exhaust of a small internal-combustion engine taken from a lawn mower. The experiment involves a flow-reactor system with an integrated mass spectrometer to monitor the flow-stream composition in real time. In addition to the techniques employed, the laboratory serves to highlight aspects of surface science and heterogeneous catalysis and also illustrates a significant problem associated with catalytic converters.

Eight children are injured by riding lawn mowers every day. The child, usually a bystander or passenger on the mower, can sustain life-threatening and limb-threatening injuries. Multidisciplinary care must be available to manage the numerous issues presented by the unique circumstance of a child with a severe injury in the acute and chronic settings. Whether the limb is salvaged or amputated, the ultimate goal is optimal functional outcome for the patient. We have developed a team approach to address these injuries from their onset until patient maturity, maximizing our ability to achieve this goal. Language: en

Lawn mower injuries are a potentially devastating, yet preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in the pediatric population. The sequelae to these injuries can become even worse if the initial presentation goes unsuspected by medical staff, leading to a delay in treatment. The authors report the case of a lawn mower-related penetrating missile injury, where the extent of injury was not appreciated by the patient until signs and symptoms of a soft-tissue infection developed, prompting the patient to seek medical attention the next day.

Penetrating injury to the vena cava is a potentially life threatening condition that necessitates prompt recognition and immediate treatment. Herein we describe a unique lawn mower-related injury in a 4-year-old boy, resulting in the impalement of the inferior vena cava by a foreign body projectile. Relevant concepts in the management of children with lawn mower injuries are discussed, with emphasis on penetrating injury to the inferior vena cava.

Emissions were characterized from 10 four-stroke lawn mower engines. The ages of the engines ranged from new to 15 years, and each was tested using two gasoline fuels: a 1990 national average blend and a reformulated gasoline. Reformulated gasoline usage resulted in lower organic and carbon monoxide emissions that contributed to lower reactivity-weighted emission rates. Aggregate toxic emissions were also reduced because benzene emissions were lower. On the other hand, increases in nitrogen oxide emission rates were observed with the reformulated gasoline. Compared to the newer engines, older engines had dramatically higher organic and carbon monoxide and lower nitrogen oxide emissions.

We report about a 2-year-old boy who had a lawn mower injury to the left foot, resulting in a partial amputation and severe soft-tissue defect. To salvage the length of the foot, an emergency free-tissue transfer was performed. Indication, advantages, and outcome of the procedure are discussed.