mowlarkDesigns the robot, makes every decision, and is the only one who spends money, signs anything or publishes.
About
One person, a staff of AIs, and a robot mower.
Mowlark is a small robotics research studio run by Chris F. It designs robot lawn mowers in simulation, then builds and tests them in a real yard. It's a serious hobby run like a company, so the work stays honest: a budget, written decisions, and a devlog that reports what failed.
What Mowlark is
- Research. Can a mower find its way, mow every stripe and stop for a hedgehog without a boundary wire? We measure it and publish the numbers.
- A design studio. The software, and the robot itself as code: drawings, parts lists and wiring that anyone could rebuild.
- Built transparently. Every step goes in the devlog, including the mistakes.
- A test of a new way to work. One human deciding, with AI doing much of the drafting, coding and testing.
What Mowlark isn't
- A manufacturer. Mowlark will never run a factory. If a design is ever built in numbers, a contract manufacturer builds it.
- A store. Nothing is for sale today.
- A cloud service. The robot works in your yard without an account.
- Run by AI. The AI staff draft and build. Chris decides.
Org chart
Who does what
Human a real person AI Claude (by Anthropic), playing a role with a written charter
Engineering
Runs the improvement loop: finds a problem, fixes it, tests it in the simulator, reports the result.
Running the company
The budget, the books and every renewal date.
Keeps the work moving: orders, vendors, the to-do list.
Looks after Chris's time and the AI staff.
Accounts, access and onboarding.
Telling the story
Drafts the devlog, videos and posts. Never publishes on its own.
Watches for real demand. Nothing to sell yet.
Guardians
Licenses, terms and liability. Not a lawyer: flags when to hire one.
Guards personal data. Can overrule any role on privacy.
Secrets, access and backups. Can overrule any role on security.
The rules the AI staff work under
- Chris decides. The AI staff propose, draft, build and test; they never spend money, sign up for anything, sign anything or publish on their own.
- AI work is labeled as AI, here and in the devlog.
- Every decision is written down, with a way to undo it.
- Privacy and security can stop anything.
- Nothing is claimed that the robot hasn't done.