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dooropenerr-blog · 6 years ago

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Best Robot Lawn Mowers: Beats the Neighborhood Kid

How many times have you wished that you could just sit with a glass of lemonade in the shade while someone else mowed your lawn in the heat of summer? The cost of a hired gardener or landscaper might not be in your monthly budget, but there might be something else that you can splurge on that could meet your needs. Meet the robot lawn mower.

We knew it wasn’t too far away; with the advancement and increasing popularity of automatic vacuum cleaners such as the Roomba, it was easy to see what was next. However, a mower requires a lot more power, and better visuals. Something large enough to mow a lawn would certainly do some damage if it’s only ability to map out your lawn was by “bumping” into stuff.

With recent technological advancements, automatic lawn mowers, or robotic lawn mowers, have become more of a regular suburban power tool. We have all of the best robot lawn mowers compiled for you here. You can find reviews, as well as a guide to help you pick the right machine for your lawn.

What’s Here On this page, you’ll find reviews on all of the best robot lawn mowers and brands. We’ve also put together a quick read about features and benefits of robotic lawn mowers that you should glance through before making your purchasing decision. Up first, is a quick comparison chart of our top picks.

Robot Lawn Mowers Comparison Here is our easy-to-browse comparison table of our top picks for best robotic mower. We’ve arranged them in order of price, and our review section below mirrors this same order so that it’s easy for you to reference.

Keep in mind that while we do update our content regularly, prices fluctuate and your concerns and ratings will vary based on personal need.

We hope that this table and our robotic lawn more reviews will help you make a final choice! Mobile and small screen visitors- select the green + symbol to view more specifics on each item.

Best Robot Lawn Mowers Here we have compiled a list of what we consider the smartest and best quality robot lawn mowers on the market. We’ve chosen them based on quality of parts and technology, as well as finding a variety of power levels to fit different lawn styles and sizes.

Be sure to consider what needs your lawn has before selecting your own automatic lawn mower. A more intricate or narrow lawn might need a different unit than one with slopes and more acreage.

1. Worx Landroid worx landroid robotic lawn mower

Cutting Height: 1.6”- 4” Cutting Width: 7″ Max Cutting Surface: 0.25 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 20° Installation Kit Included: Yes Up first we have Worx Landroid Robotic Lawn Mower. We highlight this as one of Worx best models of robot lawn mowers. It’s equipped with what they refer to as AIA (Artificial Intelligence Algorithms) that allows it to successfully learn even the most intricate of yards, and navigate through them whilst steadily improving.

The max inline/decline of the Landroid is only 20° which may influence your decision if your yard contains more dramatic increases of slope. It contains rain sensors that will send the robotic lawn mower back to it’s charging base during rainfall. It also returns when the battery is low, so you won’t have to go out and drag it back to the charging station.

2. MowBo Automatic Robot Lawn Mower MowBo Robot Lawn Mower

Cutting Height: Not Listed Cutting Width: Not Listed Max Cutting Surface: 0.75 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 30° Installation Kit Included: Yes One of the lesser known brands throwing it’s hat into the robotic lawn mowing ring is MowBo. It’s available in two sizes, the M13 and M14 models. If you’re looking for a model under $1000 this might be worth the charge. It is weatherproof and can mow slopes up to 30 degrees. Though it might not have all of the bells and whistles of a Husqvarna, it’s able to work for 2-13 hours between charges. This means it can cover three quarters of an acre per day.

The only reason to be hesitant is the lack of feedback given by users both on Amazon and other seller platforms.

3. McCulloch ROB 1000 McCulloch ROB 1000

Cutting Height: 0.8”- 2” Cutting Width: 6.7″ Max Cutting Surface: 0.25 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 25° Installation Kit Included: Yes One of the most user friendly robot mowers in the game is the McCulloch ROB 1000 (we might also include that it has the most Robot sounding name, as well). After an easy-breezy set up and programming, you can actually run this robotic mower at night without disturbing your neighbor or yourself.

It runs on a zero emissions battery, and contains an alarm system that prevents theft. The safety features on ROB 1000 are also some of the best we’ve seen, giving it the small kids and small pets approval.

4. Milagrow RoboTiger 2.0 milagrow robo tiger

Cutting Height: 0.9”- 2.3” Cutting Width: 9.8” Max Cutting Surface: 0.37 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 30° Installation Kit Included: Yes Milagrow is an Indian based company and they were perhaps inspired by local wildlife when naming their fiercest model, the RoboTiger 2.0 Robotic Lawn Mower. It features bumper sensors, and a touch sensor panel for easy control and maneuverability. It’s rain proof, and can function well even in wet conditions. Though it might need to charge between mows, it can handle over a third of an acre.

5. Husqvarna Automower 315 husqvarna automower 315 robot mower

Cutting Height: 0.8”-2.4” Cutting Width: 8.7″ Max Cutting Surface: 0.37 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 27° Installation Kit Included: No If you’re looking for a Husqvarna robotic lawn mower for a smaller lawn area, the Automower 315 is the option for you. It can handle more than a quarter acre with tri-blade system that will cut your grass evenly on surfaces up to 27° in slope.

It’s quiet enough to work at any time of day, and won’t need to be monitored. It can also handle different weather patterns, and will adjust it’s cutting schedule based on how quickly your grass is growing to avoid over-trimming.

6. John Deere Tango E5 Series II john deere tango series II automatic lawn mower

Cutting Height: 0.74”- 4” Cutting Width: Unlisted Max Cutting Surface: 0.54 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 36° Installation Kit Included: Yes The Tango E5 Series II is an upgrade to previous autonomous mowers released by John Deere. It features a customized pin to each machine to prevent theft, and is built to last as long as any regular lawn mower. As far as inclines go, this John Deere robot mower can handle much steeper slopes than its competitors.

7. Gardena R80Li gardena r80i robotic lawn mowers

Cutting Height: 0.7”- 2” Cutting Width: 6.7” Max Cutting Surface: 0.2 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 25° Installation Kit Included: Yes One of the things we love about Gardena’s robotic mowers actually goes beyond just the product themselves. No matter which model you get from them, their website is chock full of instructional videos and customer support, which might put some first time buyers at ease about using this new machine. The quality of Gardena’s R80Li is not to be rivaled. It’s considered a midline mower in their books, but it’s quality is top notch.

8. Robomow RS630 Robomow RS630 auto mower

Cutting Height: 0.78”- 3.14” Cutting Width: 22” Max Cutting Surface: 0.75 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 36° Installation Kit Included: Yes Robomow is another brand that has multiple models on the market, but we have chosen to feature one of their more heavy duty releases in our robotic mower reviews. With an installation kit included, the RS630 rivals Husqvarna in both price and durability. Similar to John Deere’s Tango robot mower, it can handle steep slopes and wet grass.

Depending on how you’d like to monitor your robot mower, you can also have it set to quit operating during intense rain and even humidity. For places that have higher humidity levels even without rain this is a crucial feature. The mowing width is almost two feet (56sm) meaning it can cover more yard in less time.

3. Husqvarna Automower 430X Husqvarna Automower 430 robot lawn mower

Cutting Height: 0.8”- 2.4” Cutting Width: 9.45″ Max Cutting Surface: 0.8 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 45° Installation Kit Included: No The Husqvarna Automower 430X Robotic Lawn Mower has one of the largest acre capacity we’ve seen. The strong battery only takes slightly over an hour to recharge when it’s completely drained.

We do have to note that most Husqvarna robotic mowers do not readily come with an installation kit, this one is the same way. This can actually be beneficial to you because Husqvarna has many different sizes of installation kits available, so you can choose the one that best fits your needs.

One of the neatest features about this robot, is it’s ability to find it’s way home to you- so to speak. Essentially, you can add on a GPS feature to your purchase so that if anyone attempts to steal it you can track it’s location from your smart phone. Pretty spiffy.

Plus, if we’re honest, it looks like the robot lawn mower that Batman would use- which is sort of an added bonus.

10. Husqvarna Automowe 450X husqvarna automower 450X robotic mower

Cutting Height: 0.8”- 2.4” Cutting Width: 9.45″ Max Cutting Surface: 1.35 Acres Max Incline/Decline: 45° Installation Kit Included: No This Husqvarna is almost identical in every way to the other 450X robotic lawn mower we have featured in our review section. The biggest difference? Size capacity. The battery in the model is just slightly stronger enough so that it can handle over 1 Acre of mowing area.

The typical charging time is 75-80 minutes, and the sound level is slightly louder- though not by much. If you are OK with it running multiple times in a day, you can likely push the acreage up to 1.5 max space.

Do Robotic Lawn Mowers Work? For the skeptics out there, we can address the commonly asked question of “do robotic lawn mowers work?”. Like all tools and robotic machines, robot lawn mowers are not without their faults. But more importantly, they will only work if used correctly. Much like a smaller automatic vacuum cleaner such as the aforementioned Roomba, these machines work better if used multiple times a week.

The goal of an automatic lawn mower is to maintain, not to do drastic makeovers.

Using a robot mower regularly to cut short lengths will prevent the machine from clogging up. Much like a vacuum, if you only are using it once a week or every other week, then it takes longer to complete, and often needs cleaning due to clogging up.

Likely, if you’re interested in investing in an robot lawn mower, you are already in the maintenance game, and would like to spend that extra hour or two a week on something more worth your time. Lawns, after all, are considered a luxury, and we believe they should be treated as one.

Advancements in Robot Lawn Mower Technology Mapping perimeter for robot lawn mowers

One major difference between an robot vacuum cleaner and a robot lawn mower, is how the machine will map out- or “learn”- your yard. Most Robot lawn mowers come with a low voltage wire that you essentially place around the area of your lawn. The mower will not go past this perimeter as long as it is properly installed. Avoiding a runaway lawn mower is obviously crucial, and seems like the premise to a bad horror movie.

Sensors They also do have bumping sensors, and they are much more acute than they used to be. Even something like a garden hose or lawn ornament, that could easily be taken out by push or riding lawn mowers, will be enough to stop the automatic lawn mowers and send it cutting the other way.

Safety As previously implied, some of you might be feeling uneasy about the safety of automatic mowers, particularly if you have children or pets. The improvements made to the lawn mowers sensitivity is obviously a step in the right direction. It should also be noted that the robotic lawn mowers essentially have a kill switch on the blades that’s activated if the machine is lifted or off kilter.

Overall, as long as you spend time properly installing the low voltage wire perimeter, read all instructions, and spend some time observing your machine during it’s first few uses- we feel confident that it will be safe for you and your family.

robotic lawn mowers

Environmental One of the great things about robotic motors is that they are electrical powered, rather than gas powered, and their wireless operation makes them even less of a hassle. We even suggest that you find a way to charge your robot lawn mower with a renewable source, such as a solar panel charging system. Check voltage, but there are plenty of compatible panel systems out there that are extremely affordable.

Features to Consider In our robotic lawn mower reviews, we try our best to cover all of the most important features of lawn mowers and what you might need to consider before buying. We encourage you to read through the details of the important features below, before investing in a mower. Some of them are so crucial, that if you neglect to consider them you won’t be able to properly use your new robotic lawn mower.

Cutting Height Cutting height is something important to consider before buying a robotic lawn mower. Know what you want as an end result before you purchase. Likewise, cutting height positions available might also impact your choice. Even if a mower has a wide range of heights, doesn’t meant that there are enough settings to choose within that range.

Cutting Width Depending on the size and shapes of your lawn, you might require a narrow or wider cutting width on your mower. Wider can mean less time in a traditionally shaped lawn, but narrow robot lawn mowers can fit easier in tight spaces and more cut more intricate lawns.

Slope Some robotic lawn mowers can handle more dramatic slope increases and decreases than others. Measure the inclines of your lawn before buying one if you’re concerned.

Installation Kit

Some of the robot lawn mowers we feature in our review section as Smart Home approved come with their own installation kit so you can get started hassle free. However, not all installation kits are made the same, and if you need a larger kit it might be better to have the option to buy the kit separately. This can also help you save if you already have an installation kit set up, and are just needing to buy a new or additional unit for your lawn mowing needs.

Cost A big hold up for some people on purchasing an automatic lawn mower would be first and foremost the initial cost. However, if you’re paying for regular mowing services, even a small yard can cost the average family over $1000 a year. For some models of robot mowers, you’ll save more in just one year of using it (including electric charging costs). The key to healthy lawn is more regular trimmings at a lower setting.

Even if you aren’t outsourcing this task, it might still be eating up too much of your time- especially for those weekend warriors out there. Investing in robot lawn mowers can help keep your lawn healthy, ensuring less renovation costs down the road, and it will either save you time, money, or both.

Brands When you start looking for quality robot lawn mowers, there are a few names you are likely to come across that stand out above others.

John Deere Robot Mower The first is John Deere. John Deere knows the yard maintenance game, and you can trust that they are going to give you a quality product as well. Note that since you do usually have to go through a dealer for this brand, you might be paying a bit more for your auto-lawn mower than one that you could order online straight from the manufacturer.

automatic lawn mower

However, a John Deere robot mower is backed by a name of quality, strong warranties, and often stellar customer service. They also were some of the first ones to come out with successful robotic lawn mowers, and they have only been steadily improving ever since.

Husqvarna Robotic Mower Another commonly trusted brand name in landscape maintenance is Husqvarna. They have over 3 centuries of power equipment manufacturing under their belts. You didn’t read that wrong. Over 300 Years. And they haven’t lost their touch. There are plenty of Husqvarna Robotic Mowers available to consumers at reasonable prices.

husqvarana robotic mower

Even for the pricier models, you are likely going to save more after just one year of using a Husqvarna robotic mower, than you would paying someone to mow your lawn a couple times a month. Husqvarna also has the most models currently available on the market.

Worx Robot Mowers Perhaps a less well known brand in the average household is Worx, but they’ve already made quite the reputation for themselves in the robot mower game. Their modern looking machines are user friendly, and extremely advanced. Aside from just using sensors, units such as their Landroid Robotic Lawn Mower is equipped with AI Algorithms to help it navigate more intricate lawns and cuts. They are much more than good looking robots, but that is a bonus as well.

robot mowers

Others

One of the things we try to do at Smart Home, is look at brands that perhaps the average consumer wouldn’t consider. You aren’t average- you deserve the best! So we scour through brands that are still on the competitive edge, still making high quality machines, but are perhaps spending less on advertising and marketing. You’ll see them in our robotic lawn mower reviews here on this page. Make sure you do some comparison shopping to make sure you aren’t getting stuck with a great brand but the wrong robot lawn mower.

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zipgrowth · 7 years ago

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How to Help Students Land the STEM Jobs of the Future

For nearly 30 years, the global non-profit FIRST has been getting kids hooked on science and technology through hands-on robotics competitions featuring come-from-behind victories and breathless spectators clamoring for TV coverage. It all happens thanks to a network of corporate partnerships that let students peer into the real world of STEM careers while giving companies a chance to engage with ambitious and energetic students.

But these days, I’m not looking for particular experience as much as whether people can work collaboratively as part of a team.

EdSurge spoke with Dave Vasko, Director of Advanced Technology at Rockwell Automation—a long-time FIRST partner—about how robotics competitions resemble the Indy 500; why you should be kind to your competition; the leg up FIRST kids have when landing STEM jobs; and one thing a kid-built robot can do way better than he can.

EdSurge: How does FIRST nurture the skillsets you are looking for in your workforce?

Dave Vasko: The science and technology experiences that kids gain in FIRST programs provide a strong foundation for the future. It’s just incredible to see the kids work in an environment where there’s competition and cooperation, where they are working together toward a common goal, applying the technology to these robots, developing control systems—and doing it all under pressure and with enthusiasm!

And they really deliver on their end goal; some of the tasks they do are astonishing. I remember a few years back, they had robots throw a frisbee much more accurately than I ever could.

When I was growing in my career, people had to have experience. But these days, I’m not looking for particular experience as much as whether people can work collaboratively as part of a team. Can they learn from other people? Technology is changing so fast that if I had to hire for experience, I’d be changing the majority of my staff every three years. I try to find people who can actually learn.

Photo Credit: FIRST

What are some of the advantages FIRST students have when they’re applying for jobs?

Rockwell Automation's Dave Vasko. Credit: Rockwell Automation

Some FIRST kids may be three-to-five years ahead of other kids. Someone can go through high school and take the science classes. They can go through college and do labs. But many of them have never worked on a big project. Many have never worked on a team where it’s hardware, software, mechanical engineers and marketing all working together. To have that experience so early on helps those kids really hit the ground running.

Have you been to any robotics competitions?

I have been to several FIRST competitions, and I can’t understand why they aren’t televised. They’re so exciting; it’s better than any sport I watch on TV. The atmosphere is so electric. It’s like car racing, with the pits where the kids are frantically working on the robots, making last-minute adjustments and enhancements. Then they wheel the robots out to the playing field. They have three robots on each side. So teams and their robots cooperate in a particular round to score enough points to move on.

There’s a very short period of time on the ground where the robots perform a predetermined task. And everybody has a different way of doing it. Sometimes something will break and the team has to do the best it can with what it has. That tells you a lot about the team and its resiliency, and what it can do under fire.

How does Rockwell Automation support FIRST?

More than 300 of our employees volunteer as mentors, subject matter experts, judges and referees.

Take Javion Mosley, who went to Riverside University High, a public school in Milwaukee. While on the Riverside RoboTigers FIRST Robotics Competition team, Javion learned about the high school internships at Rockwell Automation from his mentor, Emily Ralph. He started interning with us as a high school junior and credits the experience for shaping who he is and what he wants to do in his career. Javion is now a junior at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an application engineering intern at Rockwell Automation. He also gives back to the RoboTigers as a team mentor.

Last season we sponsored 215 FIRST programs in North America and had at least one employee mentor on each team. Rockwell Automation has been a FIRST strategic partner for more than 10 years, providing millions of dollars in monetary and in-kind contributions.

Getting Started with FIRST:

Sponsor a FIRST league or team

Start a workplace giving campaign at your company

Watch Paula's inspiring journey with FIRST

Check out the National Instruments FIRST Robotics Competition Resource Hub

Learn how the John Deere Inspire program brought two FIRST mentors full circle

Read more about Rockwell Automation's impact on FIRST and STEM

Photo Credit: FIRST

Among the FIRST tenets is “coopertition” and “gracious professionalism”—helping one’s opponents be at their best for a competition. How valuable are those concepts in the professional workplace?

It’s probably hard for people to believe, but we work with competitors all the time, particularly in international standards. In automation, we need to network our products together. It doesn’t make sense for every company to develop its own communications ecosystem. It makes sense for us to use and advance communications standards that many vendors can use.

I have been to several FIRST competitions, and I can’t understand why they aren’t televised.

Also, things change. It could be that a competitor, through an acquisition, is suddenly working alongside you. We try to develop good relations with our competitors and find common ground where we can work together.

Why is a diversified workforce important to you?

Rockwell Automation is about innovation. That’s the core of what we do—solving problems for our customers. The best way to do it is to have diversity in our workforce. If we have 10 people in the room who have exactly the same opinions and background, why do we need 10 people? We coordinate many innovation workshops where we have an idea we need to work on, and we’ll bring in people from all different parts of the company because they’ll all bring different perspectives—even if they don’t know the technology. That’s really a foundational part of the company that helps us address customers’ needs.

Photo Credit: FIRST

Why do manufacturing companies need global perspectives and evolving skill sets to survive?

Some factory jobs used to be very repetitious. But we’re seeing new jobs coming in that leverage new technology—particularly in robotics and artificial intelligence—requiring creativity and collaboration skills, and leading to exciting careers. It’s really changing how we approach the workforce and how we work on the skill sets that are required.

If we have 10 people in the room who have exactly the same opinions and background, why do we need 10 people?

What’s more, there really are no local companies anymore. Everybody is a part of a global supply chain. Rockwell Automation has a presence in 80 countries. Even a small company in Wisconsin wants to ship their products all across the world.

What advice would you give a young person thinking about a STEM career?

I would say get into a FIRST program. If you don’t want to do software or hardware, there are marketing jobs. Get into cooperative environments, work with teammates. Try different things because you never know! There are people who have gone to college, gotten a degree, taken a job and on the first day realized they hated the job. At FIRST, you can try software one day, you can try hardware the next day, you can try mechanical engineering another day. You can try different things and really see where you get excitement. Where you get excitement is where you are going to do well.

How to Help Students Land the STEM Jobs of the Future published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

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