It may not be a laundry-folding robot, but this robotic launders line build by [Radical Brad Graham] is pretty neat. He has a 75-foot hanging laundry line from his house to a woodshed, and decided to roboticize it using some bits that were lying around. The result is a simple build that adds push-button control to pull the line back and forward, making it easier to hang everything out to dry. It’s a simple build, but [Brad] did a great job of documenting what he did and why, from mounting the posts that support the line to wiring up the control buttons.
The heart of this build is an old motor from a wheelchair. Although the motor is over 20 years old, it still works well and was ideal for this sort of slow-speed, high-torque requirement That’s especially true when you consider the weight of the 75-foot line loaded with wet clothes. [Brad] decided to undervolt the engine so it would run off a 12 V battery. At the moment it is running off a car battery, but it is built to run from a smaller battery that is charged from a solar panel. After all, this will be used when the sun is out, so solar power makes perfect sense.