The world according to Oscar

So just what has one of the 80’s pop icons - Boy George from Culture Club, the song “do you really want to hurt me?” and a robotic grass cutter called Oscar got to do with Barga ?

The answer is right in front of your eyes if you happen to pass the Hotel Villa Moorings in Barga Giardino. The clue is that well cut lawn out in front of the villa. It seems to be tended almost miraculously as a gardener is never seen. That is because the “person” who keeps the lawns in order happens to be: Oscar the automatic robot. He scurries around all day long keeping the grass neat and tidy and all without a human hand in the operation. Oscar the battery powered grass cutter even returns to his house when the batteries are running down and recharges himself before once more powering off into action. A buried wire along the perimeter of the lawn that sends a stop signal to Oscar keeps him from straying off and cutting other people’s lawns.

A camera was mounted on Oscar today to show him in action, the soundtrack was reported to be one of his favourites.

Readers with a good memory might just recall an article that we published last year when the World Cup was taking over the hearts and minds of many Italians, featuring another robotic grass cutter - Ambrogio. He was kitted out in national colours as he worked hard keeping the grass trimmed around a pool in Barga. The sad news is that faithful Ambrogio finished his life in that same swimming pool when the perimeter wire buried under the grass was inadvertently cut by a workman and the electronic stop signal never reached poor Ambrogio as so he continued blithly on to his watery grave.

For anybody interested in more information about these robots - Ambrogio can be found here and Oscar here

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9 Responses to “The world according to Oscar”

Comments

1. Svevo Oct 14 2007 / 6am

   Boy George and Culture Club! Not bad. But has Oscar ever listened to Frank Sinatra?
2. dannyboy Oct 15 2007 / 10pm

   Let’s see:
   “The first cut is the deepest”
   “The green, green grass of home”
   Theme to “Blades of glory” or “Blade Runner”
   “The hissing of summer lawns”
   “Cut me, mick”
   “Look sharp”
3. Svevo Oct 16 2007 / 6am

   Dannyboy, You forget the Stones’ first big U.S. album, “High Tide and Green Grass,” not to mention the classic “It’s a lawn, lawn way to Tipperary.”
4. dannyboy Oct 17 2007 / 10pm

   Ouch! That one made we wince.
   But I’ll be “Edward Scissorhands” is Oscar’s favorite movie.
5. deety Oct 19 2007 / 12pm

   I believe that the garden is split down the middle by a path hence Oscar only ever works on one half of the lawn at a time. As he is rather slow in summer to avoid Oscar getting wet the sprinkler system is turned off for the part he’s working on.

   His less favourite saying has become: - The grass is always greener on the other side of the path.
6. Su Oct 20 2007 / 7pm

   I am leaving for Barga in the morning from the UK and staying at Villa Moorings. I am looking for ard to meeting Oscar!
7. doggybag Oct 20 2007 / 7pm

   bring a coat with you Su, it just got a bit chilly here
8. Be a Good Daughter Oct 20 2007 / 11pm

   Thanks your article is funny.
   I like your diary..
   See ya
9. Su Oct 26 2007 / 10am

   Oh no! Oscar is poorly and has been sent to get one of his engines repaired. So I didn’t get to meet him. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery. Although it has to be said that Beatrice from Villa Moorings suspects that he is pulling a sickie to get out of the cold! : )

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