Robotic lawn mower

A robotic lawn mower with visible track marks in a lawn indicating the random way it cuts the grass.

A robotic lawn mower is an autonomous robot used to cut lawn grass. A typical robotic lawn mower (in particular earlier generation models) requires the user to set up a border wire around the lawn that defines the area to be mowed. The robot uses this wire to locate the boundary of the area to be trimmed and in some cases to locate a recharging dock. Robotic mowers are capable of maintaining up to 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft) of grass.

Robotic lawn mowers are increasingly sophisticated, are self-docking and some contain rain sensors if necessary, nearly eliminating human interaction. Robotic lawn mowers represented the second largest category of domestic robots used by the end of 2005.

Possibly the first commercial robotic lawn mower was the MowBot, introduced and patented[1] in 1969 and already showing many features of today's most popular products.[2]

In 2012, the growth of robotic lawn mower sales was 15 times that of the traditional styles.[3] With the emergence of smart phones some robotic mowers have integrated features within custom apps to adjust settings or scheduled mowing times and frequency, as well as manually control the mower with a digital joystick.[4]

Technology

In 1995, the first fully solar powered robotic mower became available.

The mower can find its charging station via radio frequency emissions, by following a boundary wire, or by following an optional guide wire. This can eliminate wear patterns in the lawn caused by the mower only being able to follow one wire back to the station.

To get to remote areas or areas only accessible through narrow passages the mower can follow a guide wire or a boundary wire out of the station.

Batteries used include Nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), lithium-ion and lead-acid.

Examples

Price

The price of a Robotic Lawn mower varies from around $600 to $4500. [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Self-propelled random motion lawnmower". 1969-10-20. Retrieved 2013-06-08. U.S. Patent 3,698,523
  2. ↑ "MowBot (Jan, 1969)". 2011-10-14. Retrieved 2013-06-08.
  3. ↑ "Rise of the Lawn-Cutting Machines". 2012-10-25. Retrieved 2012-11-15.
  4. ↑ "The Best Robot Lawn Mower On The Market". 2014-05-09. Retrieved 2014-05-10.
  5. ↑ "All You Need To Know About Robotic Lawnmowers".
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