This one was prompted by somebody on nextdoor.com giving away a “broken” electric lawnmower. I promptly picked it up, and found it was primarily just the handle assembly that was broken. The battery wasn’t very good either but neither of those had much of an impact on what I had planned.
Fortunately I had some vintage battlebot parts lying around. These included some old Dewalt motor assemblies and a pair of Victor 883 speed controls. Miraculously all of this still worked, much to my delight. I stopped by the Charlotte Recyclery which is an awesome resource for spare bike parts (or parts for random projects that can use bike parts) to dig through some bins and liberate some matching bike sprockets, shifters, and chains.
Following that I picked up a pair of cheap pneumatic wheels from Harbor freight- I think they were crazy cheap like $8/ea or something. Waved my magic welding torch over the whole thing and boom! A remotely controlled mower was born! Just added a few more luxuries like a FPV camera from my “drones” drawer and a headset that lets me drive it from the couch and I was good to go! My front lawn has a pretty big incline and I was a little surprised at the struggle I had to go to to get it up the hill. I’d have paid more attention to the center of gravity in retrospect. Anyway, it struggles a bit but it can get up there- also it’s fun to watch it do wheelies during the effort.
So- following that build I read a friend’s FB post: “
Norah bug goes in for a cardiac catheterization on Tuesday. Her pre-op appointment is Monday. We told her today and she’s handling it well so far but is understandably “scared”. One of Norah’s favorite distractions is watching videos. She also really likes attention and to share about her procedure. I’m putting out a request- will you consider making a short video for Norah? I’d like to have a bunch to play for her as a distraction when she’s nervous, waiting and recovering. This could be you, your kiddos, your animals just wishing her well or acting silly or whatever. Two of her favorite subjects atm are lawn mowers and sushi. Even if she hasn’t met you it will light up her day to get this type of personal message.
Thank you for considering. If you do make one you can send via PM or text and I will not share them or post online they are only for Norah Bug. 
So- that’s where this sushi tie in came from. I was in a hurry to knock this thing out, so please prepare yourself for some fairly awful editing and rushed fabrication. Still… pretty fun, right?