Lawn mower robots?

joa · Post by **joa** » September 24th, 2007, 4:32 am

Anyone with experiences in this subject?
I have two hours of mowing before I?m finished and since I have just started my "bot" addiction this would save me a lot of time.
The Rommbas are so much cheaper in US than in Sweden so that might be the case with lawn mower robits as well!?

Heraklen · Post by **Heraklen** » September 24th, 2007, 7:16 am

Since you are swede like me go and check this site: http://www.automower.se/

The automowers recently popped up in US but have been available from Husqvarna for quite some time , tho not the cheapest but still it is (or was) a swedish company (or maybe some someone have bought em up?) dunno really.

THX-1138 · Post by **THX-1138** » September 24th, 2007, 6:49 pm

Hello Heraklen

The automowers recently popped up in US but have been available from Husqvarna for quite some time...

Actually Friendly Robotics Robomow has been selling in the USA for some time, not recently.

Heraklen · Post by **Heraklen** » September 25th, 2007, 7:52 am

Ah my mistake , I made that conclusion checking the robotic news thinking Automower was a new product in US.

THX-1138 · Post by **THX-1138** » September 25th, 2007, 8:26 am

No problem! We all make mistakes, including myself, we are human unlike our robotic friends

eqwalker · Post by **eqwalker** » September 25th, 2007, 3:26 pm

I have had a Robomower for several months now and love it. It does everything I was hoping it would do. I haven't had to "mow" my yard since I have had it. I wish I had purchased one sooner. I did consider a few others but the power and zig-zag motion (instead of the randomness of the others) is what sold me on the Robomower. They currently have two models (RL-850 & RL-1000). Be sure and check them out as well.

geekgranny · Post by **geekgranny** » September 25th, 2007, 3:33 pm

eqwalker wrote:I have had a Robomower for several months now and love it. It does everything I was hoping it would do. I haven't had to "mow" my yard since I have had it. I wish I had purchased one sooner. I did consider a few others but the power and zig-zag motion (instead of the randomness of the others) is what sold me on the Robomower. They currently have two models (RL-850 & RL-1000). Be sure and check them out as well.

Do you have any inclines or rough spots? Or is your lawn a "tamed"one. Some of us are interested but have more "country" type yards, some with inclines.

BTW.. I've done a little "taming" of some low spots using sand to fill depressions. Any experience with that?

Thanks, gg=alice

eqwalker · Post by **eqwalker** » September 25th, 2007, 3:59 pm

I would say that my yard has been tamed. When I first ran the Robomower it brought to my attention a couple of deep (ankle deep) holes that I did not remember when I was mowing with the regular mower. I filled them in with dirt and that took care of that. I have not had any problems with it since that first run. My yard has one small slope on one side but it has not been a problem for it. It will take up to a 15 deg. slope. One thing I liked about the Robomower is it has a compass like device in it that keeps the mower running in the direction of travel while on a slope instead of drifting "off course" like the others will do. I have read about users of Lawnbott having issues with it staying in the lowest part of the yard too much due to the slope pulling it to that area as it runs sideways. I cannot comment about the truth to that since I don't own one. About having a "country" yard, I did have the RL-1000 but wound up giving that as a gift to my parents. They live in the country and have about 3 acres to mow. Although the RL-1000 cannot handle 3 acres at one time, it can do an acre and it at least helps them out so they don't have to mow all 3 acres when they do mow. I then bought the RL-850 which does just fine for me. I have almost half an acre. Also, you can go to "friendlyrobotics.com" and they have the manuals for both models free for download that you can read all about the installation, etc. to see if there would be any issues. Hope this helps.

geekgranny · Post by **geekgranny** » September 25th, 2007, 9:06 pm

Thanks eq. Helpful info.

gg=alice

joa · Post by **joa** » September 26th, 2007, 3:11 am

What about the wire? Does it have to be a closed "circle" or can you make additions going out in one direction to cut of a specifik part of you yard.
In my garden it would save a lot of wire if it does not have to be connected all way around.

/Joa

eqwalker · Post by **eqwalker** » September 26th, 2007, 8:06 am

I could probably write a chapter here on how the wire could be laid, but the quick answer is yes, it does have to be a circle for the Robomower to work. It will not function without a complete signal around the yard. That is one of the safety aspects of it. If it does not see a complete signal then the mower will not run. This also prevents it from going out into the road or neighbor's yard. I did read where the Lawnbott does not have to have a wire as long as you have a solid fence for it to bump into, but I also read where it got loose and wound up in a neighbor's flowerbed by one guy. With the Robomower, if you even cut the wire, the mower will stop. Again, if you go to their website and take a look at their manual it will tell you everything about how it is installed, etc. Hope this helps.

robodude · Post by **robodude** » September 26th, 2007, 11:08 am

I could write a book on how perimeter wire should be laid. But we illustrate wire installation plans (free of charge) for all our customers (at www.lawnbotts.com) who request them - which saves you from having to figure it out.

Eqwalker is right - Robomowers will not run without wire and Lawnbotts can run without wire in enclosed areas. But you'd want to make sure you have no flower beds, pools or ponds that the mower can freely wander in.

Laying the wire is just a one time deal and you don't have to bury it. In fact we suggest pegging it down on top of the surface and the grass will eventually conceal it.

If you have slopes above 15 degrees, the Lawnbott can handle up to 27 degree slopes.

Both models can mow pretty much any type of grass and cut quality is equally impressive. The Lawnbott works more like the Roomba... it has random mowing patterns plus spirals. It mows the perimeter while going back to the docking station - which is located on the perimeter wire.

geekgranny · Post by **geekgranny** » September 26th, 2007, 6:04 pm

robodude wrote:We do offer a 30 day guarantee on approved lawns, so if you're willing to try one - contact me at sales@robomower.biz and tell me about your lawn.

I'll be glad to ship one your way to try out.

Welcome to RoombaReview.

I'm hoping to contact you in the next few days. Just like my house for cleaning 'bots, my somewhat tamed yards will be a true test (challenge) for a 'bot mower. Of course there are places that the professional crew can only get to with a weed eater. I wouldn't expect any the lawn 'bot to go there.

One major concern I have it how one would handle the rocks that constantly appear in the yard after several hard rains. Any of them handle rocks better than others?

gg=alice

robodude · Post by **robodude** » September 26th, 2007, 10:08 pm

In battles between rocks and robotic lawnmowers, at first glance the mower appears to win because the rocks gets broken into pieces or chunks of it break off. However, this is obviously bad on the blades and could cause it to get off balance then harm the mowing motor.

We suggest picking up medium rocks that are big enough to harm the blades unless you don't mind replacing the blades prematurely. Since there's no wind lift, smaller rocks stay completely untouched and are a none issue.

If you have very small limbs in the yard or pine cones, robotic mowers will chop those up too. But medium to large limbs will have to be cleared out or it could cause damage to the blades. Anything over 4 inches tall and firm enough to withstand the mower's bump will be treated as an object.

In summary, you really don't want to leave a rock out on the lawn that's large enough to damage the blades.

I look forward to you contacting us...

Thanks!

joa · Post by **joa** » September 28th, 2007, 8:54 am

My lawn is spread out, divided by pathways so I have isolated islands of lawn. What I?d like to do is to have a wire around those areas as well. Is that possible. Then just drop the bot inside to do it?s job.
I guess it will not work since I asume the wire has to be connected to the "base station" to get power.??

robodude · Post by **robodude** » September 28th, 2007, 10:07 am

Yes it's possible. It's actually it's quite the norm. Over 95% of the lawns we illustrate installation plans for is divided by at least a drive way. Coming up with the best installation plan considered the most difficult part about robotic lawn mowers. A bad install can easily ruin the mower's effectiveness. We have many years of experience and lots of tricks up our sleeves to get around "problem" areas.

That's why we offer the service free of charge to our customers.

Robotic mowers do not have a problem crossing over concrete if need be, but if there's a path of lawn joining the areas you can usually utilize those as passageways. The most common obstacles that will prevent a robotic mower from automatically transversing from area to area are fences or very steep inclines. Even in those case, the wire can still be ran in one continuous loop (connected to the base station) but will require you to place the bot on remote parts of the lawn and press a button to start it, then move it back to charge when done. And that's in the worse case scenario. (How hard is that?) Some users even cut holes through fences to allow the bot to pass through. We can show you how this is done.

To see a sample layout, please visit: http://www.lawnbotts.com/robot_lawn_mower/index.html

eqwalker · Post by **eqwalker** » November 27th, 2007, 8:31 am

They may well be working on one to release with GPS control instead of random movements.

scottb33 · Post by **scottb33** » November 5th, 2008, 1:06 pm

If anyone is interested in seeing the Robomow in action and they live in Southern California then please let us know. We do on-site demos all the time.

Scott

eqwalker · Post by **eqwalker** » November 7th, 2008, 11:46 am

I have 3 Robomowers. An RL800, RL850, and an RL1000 and I simply just love them. They have worked flawlessly for 3 seasons now. I haven't used a gasoline mower now for that long and don't intend to ever. I highly recommend them.

WonderDude · Post by **WonderDude** » November 22nd, 2008, 11:22 am

So how fast (like sqr ft / hour) does a Robomower cut?

Robot Reviews

Lawn mower robots?

Lawn mower robots?

SoCal Robomow