While the theory of robotic lawnmowers is very exciting and offers the potential of a fully automated garden management system, this has not been the result in practice. With the advent of robot lawnmowers that use GPS mapping, these deficiencies will be largely eliminated.
Mapping for robotic lawnmowers is being developed because the current system to define the outside area of the garden to be mowed is presently marked out with a “boundary wire” system. This method is inefficient and results in missed patches and an erratic cutting pattern.
If you are looking for a robotic lawnmower, it might be worth waiting for a year or two until the new generation models are launched and established in the market. In this article, we discuss the problems with the existing generation robot mowers and the solutions the next generation will offer.
How Do These Robot Mowers Map The Garden
Unlike robot mowers that move erratically between boundary wires, the new generation equipment maps the garden and mows using a defined and efficient pattern. It uses a GPS that is accurate to within 2 inches to control the mower’s movement.
There are two competing technologies as follows.
Pure GPS System
The robot mower is moved around the edge to map the garden while it is in GPS capture mode. The mapping is stored in the machine’s memory when the whole area to be mowed has been “marked out.”
The robot mower uses accurate GPS coordinates, producing the following outcomes.
- Not exceed the established boundary.
- To mow straight and even lines across the lawn.
- To not miss any areas.
- To find the recharging device.
The result is that the robot mower calculates the most efficient cutting pattern, and as few overlapping passes as possible are mowed.
Additionally, paths can be set up for the robot mower to stop its blades while it directs itself to the second area of the lawn.
Because the GPS directs the robot mower, it will not turn away from steep inclines, so cutting slopes is not a problem.
The only available robot mowers using this technology are the Segway Navimow and the Husqvarna EPOS products.
The Husqvarna robot mower needs a GPS reference station that costs over $1500 on top of the mower’s price.
Grass Sensing System
The company Ambrogio has chosen to concentrate on a grass sensing system, which is backed up by a GPS on some models.
The system uses artificial intelligence to identify grass, and when it arrives at the edge of the lawn, it stops and changes direction.
The advantage is that the robot mower does not miss any patches, and with the models using GPS, straight stripe cut patterns are achieved.
The downside is that small corridors cannot be crossed.
Why Are Mapping Systems For Robotic Mowers Needed?
While robotic lawnmowers may seem like a dream solution to keep your lawn manicured, early generations had design deficiencies because, at that time, the technology wasn’t available to make them optimally efficient.
The early designs were renowned for the following problems.
- Robotic mowers damage lawns when the grass is wet.
- Robt mowers could not cut grass on steep gradients.
- Fallen branches need to be picked up, or else the lawnmower will carry on passing around the debris.
- Many robotic mowers did not cut to the edge of the lawns.
- Robot mowers got stuck.
- Robotic mowers struggled to navigate narrow passages
- The boundary wire was regularly broken.
- Most robot lawnmowers were only suitable for small properties.
- Some robot lawnmowers “got lost” and had to be found and retrieved.
- If two mowers are used in bigger gardens, they would often conflict.
- Robotic mowers were a danger for small animals.
How Do Robotic Mowers Map The Garden?
Early generation robot lawnmowers required a wire to be placed along the outside edge of the area to be cut.
The problems with wire-based perimeters were.
Problem No1 – Erratic Cutting Patterns
While the wires prevented the robot lawnmower from exceeding the cutting area, there was a way to control the pattern of the lawn cut.
The robot lawnmower cut in erratic patterns, which over time were hopefully sufficient to cut the whole garden.
It meant that lawns no longer had the straight stripes which resulted from walking behind lawnmowers and ride-on machines.
For some customers, this was the reason for not investing in the technology.
Problem No 2 – The Robotic Mowers Got Lost
With no tracking system, these machines needed a guideline to be installed, which would lead the robot mower back to the charging station.
When the robot mower approached this guideline and the battery needed to be charged, it would follow it back, automatically recharge and then continue on its way.
The problem occurred when the robot mower ended up behind a tree or other obstruction, it would often end up mowing only that area, and when it needed a charge, it had no system to help it locate the charger.
It resulted in the robot mower being stranded and the homeowner having to send out a search and rescue party.
Problem No 3 – Some Grass Areas Were Missed
Once again, because the robot mower randomly chose the direction of travel, some of the grass areas were repeatedly cut, while other patches were ignored altogether.
Problem No 4 – Robot Mowers Only Cut One Section
Robot mowers were impractical for gardens with more than one area to be cut.
If a driveway or other surface separated the different areas, there was no way to enable the mower to stop the blades and move across a narrow path to reach the other garden.
The only way to overcome this was to purchase two robot mowers that were not cost-effective.
Problem No 5 – Gradients Presented A Problem
Boundary wire-controlled robot mowers moved along the path of least resistance. They avoided steep inclines or rough ground, leaving these areas uncut.
The Solution Came With The Latest Generation Robot Mowers
To overcome this issue, two technologies had to be refined.
- A geolocation system
- Highly accurate GPS
- Better batteries
- Stronger motors
The latest (think 2022) generation mowers are slowly being launched by the companies such as.
- Husqvarna – EPOS
- Ambrogio – Twenty ZR / L60
- Belrobotics – GPS-RTK by
- LF Intelligence – Novabot
- Luba – Luba
- Eave – Willow
While these systems remove the need for a boundary wire, only the first four companies have products currently being manufactured.
The rest have exciting concepts in development, under testing, or are waiting for crowdfunding.
Conclusion
Robotic mowers have not found the general market buy-in expected for a product of this nature. The reasons can be boiled down to the high unit costs and the inadequate mowing patterns early generation robot mowers achieved.
The latest generation of robot mowers uses GPS to replace the old boundary wires, maximizing the robot mower’s efficiency. As these models are introduced and the costs are eventually reduced, robot mowers will become much more mainstream.
References
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLdSLJu8acg
https://newatlas.com/around-the-home/segways-first-robotic-lawn-mower-gps/
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