The Core
Why We Are Here => Water Cooler => Topic started by: rcjordan on June 23, 2018, 01:43:22 PM
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Brad, seen any significant developments?
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Brad, seen any significant developments?
Nothing. I last checked over the winter and the cast of small brands had changed and the machine designs had changed but still over priced and under powered.
I specifically looked for Roomba mower and found nothing current. Maybe they gave up.
I'll go back and check in the next few days, cos I'm due.
I'm thinking a gas powered robo-mower would be more attractive in the American suburban market.
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>cast of small brands had changed and the machine designs had changed but still over priced and under powered.
Same results here. BUT at $1000 for one that can do 1/2 acre, it's going to be worth a shot for me on my disabled brother's yard. Roughly 100% ROI based on what I'm paying landscapers. That said, I'm wary of taking on logistics, maintenance, & support ....but at 100% ROI it becomes a 1-season throwaway if need be.
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I've got two rechargeable electric push mowers. Take their mowing area estimates with a large grain of salt, that robot mower has to both cut and propel itself forward all off one battery. Plus variables, inclines, wet grass.
Keeping the blades sharp really helps.
If it will recharge itself and pick up where it left off then you are good. For a robot, most of the work is up front, doing whatever type of setup needed to keep it in the yard and teaching it what to do.
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Neighbour just got one of these:
https://www.husqvarna.com/uk/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/
Its neat. The lack of rain since he got it means its not working too hard.
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Ooh, that's a beautifully produced video.
Bookmarked.
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RC, narrow it down to a couple of likely models, then check Youtube for each model. There are some handy tips in those videos.
One concern is about max mowing height. One Husqvarna owner said he wished it mowed higher, because in the full heat of summer the low grass let sunlight hit the soil drying it out faster. He had to run irrigation system more often.
For myself, I'd stick to name brands so you can get parts in the future. The Husqvarna looks nice.
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I can do the Arduino-coding and chassis-wiring if you can do the physical stuff like the wheels and the chassis? Can't believe the price of these tiny roboomowers Just needs some sensors and an OS!.
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so Brad, whats your involvement... you seem to know more about it:)
From a neighbour perpective, I can say....On a complex lawn the Husq does sometimes get stuck. For example sometimes it wants to cut through a hedge, turns out the perimeter wire was too close at one point. to begin with it was running over the edge, where the perimeter wire was too close to the edge by about 1 inch.
So despite the apparent simplicity, I think there has been quite alot of RandD to get it to the stage it is:
- If you try to nick it an alarm goes off.
- It learns the complete map of the lawn, so if you have several separate lawns it knows to cover them all equally (Iain has a number of small lawns separated by paths).
- It has to know the state of the battery and where it is so it can get back.
- It works in the rain
- It has an app from which you can control cutting times cutting height, send it home, see where it is etc etc
I am sure there is more.
And for £40 per year the supplier takes it away, services it and stores it in the winter for you, so no lawnmower in the shed, now £300 service bills or expensive belts. The blades are I believe replaced for that price. In Austria there are huge sheds with 1000 of them every winter I am lead to believe .
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>Brad
Nah, I don't know much at all. I think there are a number of old threads about various types of household robots here which caused me to look into these a bit. Plus I've got a bad hip which gives me an interest in not pushing a mower. What I really want is a snow shoveling robot and a rabbit chasing robot to scare off the varmints.
I think in the earliest discussions here, the robot mower companies were all small and the mowers crude. Some of those companies have survived but some bigger names have moved in too, all of which is good.
Rupert, your info is fascinating. I got the impression from Youtube vids that the UK was way ahead of US in adopting these robot mowers, I didn't realize the Continent was also onboard, but it makes perfect sense. And thinking of these mowers as a service rather than a one time sale opens up lots of business opportunities for someone.
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I think the £40 is a very low entry offer. It makes sure they are in touch to supply the next one, as well as all of the others stuff he sells. Be surprised if lawn treatments are not added to his sales pitch . If he gets 100 like that, then it might be worth it for him.
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An ad for this popped up today.
Worx WR150 Landroid L 20V Power Share Robotic Lawn Mower
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VC44C68
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Consider a quality Scandinavian product able to cut everything:
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/products/robotic-lawn-mowers/models/automower-435x-awd/967853305/
Only $5200
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>Worx
I came really close to buying one of those last week, but deep-reading the reviews turned me off.
>Husqvarna
That's the brand I'm watching, but we're waaaaaay apart on the price point.
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> Worx
I've got 3 Worx power pack tools: Blower, string trimmer and a hedge trimmer.
The hedge trimmer developed a faulty switch the first season I used it. I can nurse it through but it it takes a lot of cussing so I have to be sure the neighbor kids aren't around. This year I just used the manual shears.
String trimmer works except maybe I got a bad batch of string spools because they don't want to advance.
Blower works fine.
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>I can nurse it through
That's the general review status of Worx devices ...a big box brand that won't hold up. I was hoping that they had tried to shake that image and beef up a $1200 mower, but the reviews point to 'still shoddy consumer crap.'
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<+>
I'm also watching this project. The nav system makes the most sense to me and would likely provide increased coverage since it isn't moming a random pattern.
Ardumower GPS RTK Kits GNSS
https://www.marotronics.de/Ardumower-GPS-RTK-Kits-GNSS
If there was a US plug-n-play package for $1500-ish, I'd buy it now.
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<warp>
Strong German(?) Chinese entry into the EU/US market.
I'd buy it except for one flaw --it is app controlled. If the company goes belly-up then the mower is a $3k brick.
MAMMOTION LUBA AWD 5000, Perimeter Wire Free Robotic Lawn Mower for 1.25 Acres Lawn 75% Slope, APP Control with Virtual Boundaries, All-Wheel Drive, Multi-Zone Management
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BXP9K279
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Hey RC, I saw this while doing a campus tour for my third oldest and thought of you.
Apparently they have a whole line of them now:
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/robotic-lawn-mowers/
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/industries-and-solutions/golf/#robotic-golf-course-mowers
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Yeah, I think the Husqvarna line is top seller now. The 430x would be the nearest to the Luba I posted above but it is rated at .8 acre. It requires a boundary wire (not a deal-breaker for me) but -IIRC- it mows a random pattern which wastes a lot of time & battery. *And* there are blog reviews saying that they have "gotcha" prices for repair parts.
Aside: Besides being a PITA to install and maintain, boundary wires can be lighting magnets --frying the wires, the charging station, the mower, and house wiring.
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Last year, I had a ground strike in the front yard follow the ISP coax into the house and fry some of my network cables, the home automation computer, and assorted other electronics. Not fun.
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Husqvarna does have an RTK-GPS mower that is comparable to the Luba, but it is $6k.
AUTOMOWER® 450XH EPOS™ bundle with reference station | Husqvarna US
https://www.husqvarna.com/us/robotic-lawn-mowers/automower-450xh-epos/
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>> but it is $6k.
That is precisely why the future in not evenly distributed.
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Ha I was thinking of this thread ..good to see it still exists. Thought you might like to see this radio guided slope mower I"m waiting for, it's on the boat from China to here.
It's on tracks, has a snow blade and is piloted with a remote (no automation). About $3000 including shipping.
(https://ae02.alicdn.com/kf/Se526dd8719cf40f5a9f0ebf57524cbb6D.png)
https://fr.aliexpress.com/item/1005004682111923.html
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PiMowBot -= the smart π-Mower-Robot =-
http://pimowbot.tgd-consulting.de/
Raspberry Pi Mows Your Lawn So You Don’t Have To
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/raspberry-pi-mower-mows-your-yard
The total price of a PiMowBot including all required components is between 250,- and 300,- EUR, depending on type and number of components/sensors.
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I am honestly curious to know if most men would want to purchase a robot lawn mower. Because from what I've seen, most non-farmer men LOVE to mow the lawn as long as they can do it on a riding lawn mower.
It's a loud machine that they get to drive in the great outdoors. They accomplish something that they can look at and say "I did that...look at the cool patterns I cut into the lawn." And there is something about that that strokes their testosterone level.
I'm not ragging on it...but I have to wonder if a robot cutting machine would actually give men this satisfaction.
(I exclude farmers in this because they are usually too damn tired of riding big machines outdoors and working outside all the time that they assign this awful task to someone else. Usually their kids.)
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>wonder if a robot cutting machine would actually give men this satisfaction
Your concerns about robomowers is valid. Many tractor-style riding mowers are a stamped metal piece-o-junk even when new and the great majority of those are slow and no fun.
I hate mowing the grass, but I have to admit that speedy, zero-turn, joystick-steering are kinda fun.
I'm going to eventually do a robomower just for the techie, nerdy fun. But I'm also expecting it to be more PITA than time-saver with maintenance, adjusting the mowing target areas, blade height, obstacles, boundaries, etc.