March 12, 2003

Warm reception for remote snowblower

By Carol South
Herald contributing writer

Budd Schardt wants to build an underwater submersible vehicle, just because.
He hopes one day to have it maneuvering around the bays or in other lakes, taking pictures and exploring the murky depths.
Along the way to this goal, the city resident decided he needed to know about robotics, so the inveterate tinkerer decided to build himself a remote-controlled snow blower.

Herald photo
City resident Budd Schardt built a prototype robot snowblower directed by an adapted remote control airplane controller to help him thrgouh snowy winters.

He spent four months of his spare time merging Toro and Craftsman models and putting them on tractor treads. Next came wiring that connected the treads, blower and chute to a control box, which he adapted from a remote-controlled airplane controller.
Schardt debuted his creation Saturday afternoon at a meeting of the Robot Club of Traverse City, where ten attendees watched with admiration as his snow blower made short shrift of the afternoon's snowfall. Standing in the semi-comfort of the garage, Schardt directed his snow blower from a distance.
"I like to invent, do neat things," said Schardt, who is also founding a small engine repair business called Budd's Mobile Mowers and Blowers.
Though it is a tempting vision, Schardt is not certain he will ever run his prototype from the comfort of his living room.
"I'm thinking I may add some cameras to it, but I kind of like the idea of keeping my eye on it," he said. "It is more than just a toy because it could do some real damage. A neighbor had an idea to get me a mannequin to drag behind it."
A Traverse City native, Schardt is one class short of an associate's degree from Northwestern Michigan College. He is largely self-taught and a classic lifelong learner - when something sparks his interest, he delves into it until he is satisfied.
Inventing merges his interests in mechanics, small engines, carpentry, design and electronics, among other things. Currently laid off from National Coatings, where he was an estimator and ran their safety program, Schardt is actively pursing his passion for inventing.
"It is almost easier to say what I can do than what I can't do," he noted. "I've done everything from working in aerospace to working with the carnival."
Recently he built a weatherproof, three-story outdoor house for his wife Catherine's two cats. The house has working heat, windows and doors plus a walkout basement and decks. He just installed a heated water dish Monday evening.
"It turned out to be a lot of fun, a lot of enjoyment," said Schardt, noting the cats love to sun themselves on the decks even on cold days. "Just like everything else I do, it was done freehand."
Schardt credits his wife of five years for his focus on completing projects that would have previously just bounced around in his head. This spate of creation began when he built her an office desk and some benches.
"I attribute a lot of it to, after 43 years, settling down and getting married," he said. "I used to always talk about doing stuff, but now I do it."
Schardt said his underlying principal in his projects is simplicity, in both design and materials. He finds many needed items at Odom Reusable Building Materials, where some pictures of his work grace the walls.
"I've found the secret is I probably don't need to go and buy something as much as I need to take the time to find what God's already provided for me," he said. "I like to do things as simply as possible so everything is purchasable from local people."