Anyone gone Robo in lawn care?

I'll be getting the Lawnbott 3500 next year. Look for a review of it around this time next year.

This year I bought an Ariens AMP electric riding mower, Black & Decker 36v push mower, and a Black & Decker 36v string trimmer.

I'll be posting the reviews and videos of them at the end of the week over on cleanmpg.com. I'll be making a topic over here but will post a link to cleanmpg.com with the full review. Look for it on Friday. I hope this Friday. I'm currently finishing up the videos and final shots.

 

Got 11 of these robots, no electric required, work all night
(that's a Peruvian Paso)

 

Good idea.

Better idea: get rid of weekly lawn mowing. Pick a low maintenance grass mix that grows slower, tolerate dryness for weeks, defend itself again bugs and unwanted weeds. For the 4-5 times per season you still need to cut your lawn, buy a reel lawn mower. No gas, no batteries to replace regularly, almost no lawn mower maintenance...

 

sounds too good to be true, can you give us a clue?

 

The specific products I know and used are made and sold probably only in Quebec.

You can do a simple Google search on "low maintenance grass mix".

You can read this article on the subject from the Canadian Mortgage and House Corporation (CMHC).

 

If I had more yard, I'd probably get a robo mower

 

I have approximately 13000 square feet of lawn. Currently, it takes close to 2 hours to mow, trim, and edge it every week.

That being said, I'll never buy one of those - too over priced. However, I have been working on a design for a combo lawn mower/snow plow robot that I'll probably have built by the end of the year - all inspired by this video: YouTube - ROBOPLOW. Estimated total cost to build is around $750. For those that doubt my abilities... I've been mentoring a high school robotics team build robots about the same size, but much more complex for the past 4 years

The key selling point for building my own (aside from the fun of actually building it)... being able to control it through a simple java applet - then i can mow/snow plow on demand from half a world away, while friends watch in amazement over my shoulder Eventually, it'll even be fully autonomous, even tied into the weather feed to know when to plow.

 

I went past robo to rogue and ripped out the lawn. There are a few unkempt patches left, but they'll be gone when I have the time to deal with them.

Still, the tinkerer in me is intrigued by robotics. The neighbour and I thought one afternoon we'd solve the guidance problem by burying a wire spiraled under the lawn for the mower to follow, but we never actually tried it.

Eagle: Two hours for 13,000 square feet? It must be level and square, and you run the whole time.

 

Yeah, it's a pretty good workout

The guidance problem can be solved a couple of different ways:

1. a guidance wire as you suggest. However, this would be rather intensive in terms of laying the wire...
2. A perimeter wire (think invisible fence), combined with bump sensors and a pathing algorithm similar to a Roomba (not very difficult).
3. An accurate digital map containing the desired path, combined with sensors (specifically an accelerometer, a gyroscope, and optical encoders on each wheel). This can be surprisingly accurate.
4. An accurate digital map, with multiple electronic "way points" that allow for signal triangulation.

I'm going mostly with #3, however since i already have an invisible fence for my dog, that will be integrated to ensure it doesn't run into the street. And since it will be working entirely on WiFi, some careful calibration can let me use the two access points in my house for triangulation checking over a majority of the yard through simply measuring signal strength.

 

Robomower is expensive, and quite possibly stolen easily.

It costs me 300$ per season to have a very nice & competent human do mine.

 

Don't ya know, humans are obsolete ;-)

 

I have a small lawn and have been very happy with the Black and Decker 24V rechargeable push mower. It can handle about 1/3 acre. For leaves, instead of mulching, it has a bagger to help in the fall.

 

i got into the robo mower thingie 5-6 years ago - never met so many ppl from our subdivision who stopped to see it in action ... but it was too slow and too much work ... not worth the hassle unless you have a real flat and real small 1/10 acre lawn ... dont know if they have made any progress since but i sold mine on ebay ...

 

Some of the robo mowers I've seen utilize a buried wire to define its boundaries.

We are reducing our lawn, put some raised beds in the yard for veggies, etc. We do have an electric mower for the parking verges we have to keep mown.