The technology that finally gave robot lawn mowers their autonomy

[phillynews215]

The promise of a robotic lawn mower has always been an appealing one. Set it loose in the garden to get on with the job, and reclaim a chunk of your weekend in the process. That idea has been around for years on paper, but the reality is that it has taken much longer for robot mowers to live up to that hands-off ideal.

The problem hasn’t been power or even cutting ability. Modern robotic mowers are more than capable of trimming grass cleanly and consistently. Where things have historically fallen apart is navigation. A mower that can’t reliably understand where it is or where to go will always need more babysitting than most people expect from an “autonomous” machine.




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