AN INVENTOR from Stonehouse appeared with Sir David Jason on Channel 4 on Tuesday night.
Youtuber Howard Taylor, who has made his very own robotic lawnmower, got the chance to work with the Only Fools and Horses legend on the television programme Great British Inventions.
Howard travelled to Southport in the North West to appear on the programme with host Sir David after the Channel 4 team conducted some research into lawnmower inventors and found Howard's Youtube channel Dubious Engineering.
"Working with Sir David and Wise Films was a brilliant experience," said Howard.
"Sir David is now 80-years-old and he worked so hard on the show.
"He always kept a smile on his face and took time to make a short joke and make everyone comfortable.
"The production team were magnificent as well, the two camera men always went the extra mile to capture the best footage and the producer stayed on point but allowed creativity, and the organisers made sure communication kept flowing and people were in the right place at the right time."
Howard built himself a robotic lawnmower using parts from an old pram, laptop and electric drill.
His creation captured the imagination of the internet after he posted the story onto his youtube channel and he has followed in the footsteps of Stroud’s original Lawnmower Man, Edwin Budding.
"In 2017 I had moved into a house with a garden and I wanted an automatic lawnmower to take care of my small garden," Howard said.
"All the commercial lawnmowers were beyond my budget so I decided to make my own robot one from scratch and upload some amusing videos to Youtube to detail the educational content and encourage some fun, back-yard engineering."
The lawnmower is mainly made out of recycled parts.
The wheels are from an old pram, the chassis is made from wood, the cutting system is made from razor blades glued to a used angle grinder disc, and the lawnmower is powered by old laptop batteries.
There are also ultrasonic distance sensors on the front corners of the lawnmower to prevent it from crashing into walls and plants, and there are also colour sensors underneath to make sure the lawnmower is cutting green grass.
On his television appearance, Howard said: "The experience was fantastic.
"The lawnmower didn't perform too well in the wet, but it's important to remember it has been cobbled together out of re-cycled equipment.
"It was made for fun and for education."
"I would also like to thank my good friend Richard for helping me with this project."
Howard's Dubious Engineering Youtube channel has over 300 videos involving trains, jet engines, solar powered scooters, retro computer refurbishments and a video detailing how to build a campervan from scratch.
To see Howard's behind the scenes video with Sir David on Great British Inventions, go to bit.ly/2vrVioh
To see the Dubious Inventions Youtube channel, visit bit.ly/37rswS5
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