back to article Who needs a ride-on mower when a ROBOT will cut your grass

In December last year the UK's biggest DIY chain started stocking its first robot lawnmower. That's an insane time to try out grass-cutting technology, so we waited for June to get a proper look at the latest in automated high street grass maintenance. Bosch Indego Tennis court need a trim? Bring on the Bosch Indego The …

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  1. Khaptain Silver badge

    Animals

    How do these things behave when confronted with children or animals. Ok, most dogs will simply run away and cats generally don't hang around but let's say for arguements sake that one of my dogs is having one of his sunbathing sessions and is lying(sleeping) legs fully stretched out. Will this thing simply whip of a piece of skin or two as it passes by and leave said doggy in a miserable state or will it stop, back up and complete it's task thouroughly.

    Our dogs are not the most intelligent and tend to want to play with dangerous items rather than ran away from them. Since this thing is electric I presume that it doesn't make much nose compared to a pertrol driven version.

    Also will they mulch through aforementioned doggies waste products.... Our dogs are small and have the nasty habit of leaving little black treasures on the lawn.

    Kudos for being able to use "punctiliousness" in an article.

    1. TeeCee Gold badge
      Happy

      Re: Animals

      doggies waste products

      Never found a rotary that had a problem here. The only big issue is the neat brown stripe that such a device draws across your trouser legs when you hit one. This would seem to solve that problem by removing the need for you to stand behind it while it's mowing the turdslawn.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Animals

      Our dogs are not the most intelligent and tend to want to play with dangerous items rather than ran away from them.

      Hmm. Strikes me as a problem that Darwin will solve. Give it time.

  2. imanidiot Silver badge

    What happened to GAGA

    We haven't had an update since 2012

    1. wilber

      Re: What happened to GAGA

      I believe that the Bootnote pretty well answers your question.

      1. imanidiot Silver badge

        Re: What happened to GAGA

        ahh, missed the bootnote there. Thanks.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What happened to GAGA

      This idea is old old old. I remember going to a lawn and garden show back in 95 and some company had the same thing. It would cut grass and go "find" its home. The mower I really liked had no wheels, it hovered. Main selling point was being able to cut grass on a slope around a pond or other water source.

      1. John Arthur
        Alert

        Re: What happened to GAGA

        "The mower I really liked had no wheels, it hovered. Main selling point was being able to cut grass on a slope around a pond or other water source."

        I can see how a hover mower can cut on a slope with a human to hold it in position. How does it manage to stay on or climb a slope on its own?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: What happened to GAGA

          It was nothing more than a giant wead eater. The Deck was designed in such a way to force as much air down to create lift. You didn't need "wheels". It hovered. You would simply push, pull or twist to make it go where you needed it to go. It was extremely light weight.

          Search for "Hovering Lawn Mower" and you will see it. There are videos of it on action also.

      2. Dr Who

        Re: What happened to GAGA

        If you ask the guys at Indego, they'll tell you that theirs is a lot less bovver than a hover.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: What happened to GAGA

        This idea is old old old. I remember going to a lawn and garden show back in 95 and some company had the same thing.

        I recall having a diagram to convert a 2 wheel self-propelled cylindrical petrol mower into a 3 wheel with a guide wire for what it should go buried in the lawn, and a car battery for powering a steering motor. That electronics diagram was from 1963 (came across it in a stack of old electronics mags), so, at half a century old I guess we can say indeed that the idea is not new :).

        Now, is there a Roomba equivalent that has a brain like this thing?

        1. E 2

          Re: What happened to GAGA

          "That electronics diagram was from 1963..."

          Doubtless Apple is drawing up a patent application for this.

  3. Marvin O'Gravel Balloon Face

    "The Indego Robotic Lawnmower comes in at £1,300, inclusive"

    Inclusive of what? Road tax?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Re: "The Indego Robotic Lawnmower comes in at £1,300, inclusive"

      Inclusive of what? Road tax?

      Inclusive of looking smug in front of the neighbours as you sit there supping an ale while the mower does your work.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. Spotfist
          Pint

          Re: "The Indego Robotic Lawnmower comes in at £1,300, inclusive"

          "lager is shaken flat in seconds"

          You're drinking it too slow!

          1. Stevie

            Re: "The Indego Robotic Lawnmower comes in at £1,300, inclusive"

            Plus, if you have a ride-on mower the kids will queue up for a chance to drive it round the lawn.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: "The Indego Robotic Lawnmower comes in at £1,300, inclusive"

              the kids will queue up for a chance to drive it round the lawn.

              .. and flower beds, and the hose, and, given half the chance, the dog ..

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Great for surburban 2.4 children housing estate gardens.

    Meanwhile in the real world we'd find it jammed on a fresh molehill, or fell down a random hole the dog dug round the back, or balanced jammed on one of the kids balls or perched on a old bone the dog left around etc.

    I think we need the all terrain 20hp killer machine from hell version to cope with these aspects.

    Somehow I doubt I am the target market however, since I've now resorted to using a topper on the back of a medium sized tractor as its much more robust than any of the flimsy mower offerings when confronted with unexpected surprises...

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

    2. Tanuki
      Devil

      What we need is for someone to develop a Robotic Allen-Scythe!

      1. Dr Dan Holdsworth

        No, think bigger there

        What you want to do is build on the Brott series of grasscutters. These were small paddock mowers, and the best way to describe one is to think of a bastard cross between a Harley Davidson and a silage harvester, as built by a slightly insane bucolic Hells Angel.

        It was a ride-on flail mower, which collected its grass clippings as it went. Standard practice using one was to put it in bottom gear, and run the engine at maximum revs; this produced a deep drone from the flail mower combined with a howl from the engine. These mowers would cut pretty much anything, from grass to wood to molehills and so on. Cats and dogs getting in the way was not a problem; anything with a brain headed for the horizon if it heard one coming; anything without a brain got pulverised.

        This would be an ideal platform to build into a mower-bot.

        1. Stevie

          Re: No, think bigger there

          Good for clearing mines too.

    3. Stevie

      Re: Great for surburban 2.4 children housing estate gardens

      Agree. This is the Dyson DC25 of the lawnmower world. A seemingly clever yet functionally flawed device made out of plastic with a hefty price tag.

    4. herman

      'jammed on one of the kid's balls' - Damn, that would HURT!

      1. Daniel 23
        Coffee/keyboard

        Re: Damn, that would HURT!

        Perfect timing - I had just raised my coffee to my lips as I read that.

  5. sorry, what?
    Facepalm

    Pointless unless...

    "Carefully progressing in stripes is pointless when there's no roller to show off one's punctiliousness"

    Actually, there is a good point: it lets the machine track what has and has not been cut, in an efficient manner. Obviously. D'oh!

    1. sabroni Silver badge

      Re: Pointless unless...

      I don't see the connection. It could cut in whatever shape it likes and still keep track, surely?

      1. sorry, what?
        Boffin

        Re: Pointless unless...

        You need to consider the algorithm being used to track the cutting and just how much memory and CPU you need to handle that algorithm. Using a simple, iterative linear progression allows use of a simple "flood fill" algorithm that takes very little memory to hold current state. And doesn't need much CPU either.

        Hence my use of the term "efficient".

        1. sabroni Silver badge

          Re: Hence my use of the term "efficient".

          It's a robotic lawnmower. It's more important to worry about how much power it takes moving and mowing than how many clock cycles or how much ram it needs to work out where to go next. What's in there, a ZX81?

          1. sorry, what?

            @sabroni, Re: Hence my use of the term "efficient".

            It is cheaper to implement a simple algorithm, needing very little memory and simple CPU (like you might have in a calculator as opposed to a smartphone) and far less likely to have bugs in it - you don't want the mower leaving patches of the lawn uncut because someone tried to implement a fancy algorithm and failed to consider edge cases.

            Lines are easy to handle with efficiency and have well-known algorithms to implement - check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flood_fill#Scanline_fill for some info.

            I suspect that the manufacturer will want to skimp on their outlay on the electronics hardware and the software required (they probably outsource for that) to maximize profit too.

      2. Stevie

        Re: Pointless unless...

        "I don't see the connection. It could cut in whatever shape it likes and still keep track, surely?"

        The point is that the English have a fondness for striped lawns that can only be achieved by the use of a mower with a cylindrical cutter (which leaves a small but noticeable directional "nap" on the turf, and a roller mounted behind the cutter is even better) and this lawnbot has a rotor-type cutter.

  6. petur

    I have some issues with these things

    - they are way too expensive for what they are and do

    - more intelligence is needed, there's already a model that detects its perimeter with a sensor and not a wire though.

    - same basic problem as robo vacuum cleaners: can't deal with stuff lying around

    Solve these and then we can talk ;)

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I have some issues with these things

      This problem has already been solved, it's called having a wife, a house husband, a marital partner or whatever you call the person that you live with.

      1. Eddy Ito

        Re: I have some issues with these things

        "... the person that you live with."

        This doesn't address the "too expensive" complaint, if anything it exacerbates it.

        One other point is that it only does 1000 m2. I suppose that's fine if the weather is such that you can leave it to do it's thing on a large yard over the course of however long it takes but for a 1000 m2 I don't see the point since even with a smaller push mower you can be done in a bit over half an hour. I suppose there must be a size niche where this would fit but I'm not seeing it.

  7. Tanuki
    Thumb Down

    Sheep?

    It sounds horribly expensive and over-complicated: I have a vision of it toppling over and rolling down one of my 45-degree grassy slopes, to lie distressed at the bottom like an upturned turtle - or it fighting a losing battle with a coil of garden hose, or drowning itself in the pond.

    Far better (and cheaper) to get an orphan spring lamb from the local farmer to crop your grass - this also has the advantage that at the end of the season you have something to go in the freezer.

    1. theblackhand

      Re: Sheep?

      The problem with sheep is fitting/changing the grass catcher.

      Note: I accept Australian and Welsh customers may find this an added feature.

    2. Notenoughnamespace

      Re: Sheep?

      Oddly enough we do get lambs in the garden on occasion, from the neighbouring field, but they poo on the garden a lot more than Indego.

      Bill.

  8. Blergh

    What about rain?

    If it's scheduled to just go and mow the lawn once a week while I'm at work does it matter if it's raining and do you need to build a small shed for it to sit under? I only ask because I usually avoid cutting the grass when it's wet making it more difficult to mow and clogging things up. Also at different times of year I find the grass needs to be cut at different intervals, I guess you need to manually alter the schedule according to the seasons? Or is it all more stupid than that and you have to be there to take it out the shed, place it on it's start point and then set it off manually?

    It would be good if it went out twice a week, checked the grass length and if it wasn't long enough to bother cutting it would cancel the job.

    It's no use for me anyway since I've got 4 lawns all on different levels and I'm not building ramps just for the mower. I'll just wait for the one that can fly too. Now there's a film title, "Attack of the flying lawn mowers".

    1. The Real Tony Smith
      Happy

      Re: What about rain?

      Ahhhhh you need the Internet Of Things

      The mower could use your wi-fi to access a weather forecast and decide when to operate.

      As this is not perfect you could then give it a link to your home weather station to determine local conditions.

      The burglar alarm could be integrated to give it patio door status and/or room movement detector outputs, thus giving an indication of people in the house/garden.

      Simples!

    2. Khaptain Silver badge

      Re: What about rain?

      > Also at different times of year I find the grass needs to be cut at different intervals,

      You can send it out every day so the grass will never really get any longer that a day or twos worth.

      As for the ramps well I am afraid to tell you that you will probably need to fork out £5200, one for each section....ouch.... You will be the poorest man in the neighbourhood but will then be in a position to win a prize for your multi-tiered, automatically cut, perfectly groomed lawns....

    3. Notenoughnamespace

      Re: What about rain?

      No small shed, unlike his predecessor (who did have a little house) Inigo doesn't care about the rain.

      Wet grass is harder to cut, and will get clogged up eventually, so the occasional wipe around is a good idea. We send him our daily, to make sure the tips aren't too long, but we're also still clearing part of the garden which has descended into prairie while we were robotless.

      We cut a section with the strimmer, then extend the wire, about 10-20 square meters each weekend so far.

      Bill.

  9. Chris G

    Nothing new here

    Back in the '80s Iwas on a course in robotics and the class had to decide on a project to design a domestic robot. Because I already had experience with mowing equipment we decided to go for a robot mower.

    Our design was for a 16" lead acid powered item witha learning chip so you had to run around the route once and in theory it would do that forever after. To trigger a session we decided on a simple electric eye system so that when the grass reached a certain height the mower would detatch itself from the the charging dock and whiz around the garden, for kids and dogs we fitted 4 way doppler radar and in the event of hitting an obstacle that prevented it from going forward it would back away and move to the right by one cutting width.

    After cutting it would go back to the dockwhich would funnel it into postion onto the charging splkes.

    Unfortunately we never got to make the whole thing so never had a chance to see how good (or bad) it would be at its job.

    A few years later Viking brought a machine that was quite similar.

    With the tech available now though I would prefer to develop something with DARPA that has on board lasers for those stubborn weeds or other obstacles and neighbour recognition software to prevent extended borrowing and maybe a homing device or system.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Nothing new here

      that has on board lasers

      That'll be fun if the lawn is dry - it'll mow it by burning the lot. On the plus side, you could also program it to guard the garden against stray cats, provided you stop it from pointing upwards and downing aircraft. :)

  10. Craig 2
    Stop

    Drilling holes, cursing at flat-pack furniture, removing spiders, spending hours starting the petrol mower. These are the things that build character in a man. Anyone bloke who buys one of these is chipping away at his innate manliness and will eventually start getting urges to watch box-sets of "Sex in the city" and buying stuff like Nivea exfoliating face scrub for men!

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  11. TopOnePercent

    I'm definately in the market for something like this. I can even live with having to move the childrens toys off the grass first.

    I just can't quite see myself stumping up a grand for more for one.... That's about 4 or 5 years of paid grass cutting from the local gardner, which is probably how long the mower will reasonably last.

    When the price drops to 3 or 400 quid, then I'm in.

    1. dogged

      I'm also in the market.

      I discovered a few years ago that when you have hayfever, even a tractor-mower is a bloody chore rather than fun.

      1. This post has been deleted by its author

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Scorched earth

          A coat of diesel fuel provides a low maintenance lawn that lasts and lasts....

  12. Robert E A Harvey

    Clippings

    I want a robot mower that can deal with the clippings.

    Anyone who tells you that a mulching mower produces no mess obviously does not have dogs, and anyone who tells you a toy cutter like that has can mulch is having you on.

    1. Notenoughnamespace

      Re: Clippings

      If he's out every day then the clippings are very short indeed, invisible to us.

      Bill.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Does it take the grass cuttings down to the tip when it is done?

    1. Martin
      WTF?

      Never mind the tip....

      What does it do with the grass cuttings in general?

      I have a small Bosch mower which is all I need for my two mini-lawns. But I have to empty the grass-cutting box at least once half-way through cutting. So what does this thing do?

      1. Notenoughnamespace

        Re: Never mind the tip....

        Because he can cut the lawn daily the clippings are very short indeed, and they just mulch.

        Our last robot, who served faithfully for seven years, used to go over the same seconds repeatedly and claim it was mulching the grass, but I think it was just trying to cover for its lack of intelligence.

        Bill.

  14. Alfie
    Pint

    Value?

    Surely it's just cheaper to get a man in to cut the grass for you? They tend to spot obstructions on your lawn and work around them or even move them (obviously they wouldnt try to move a pond or a tree). Plus you still get to spend your free time sitting on a deck chair drinking ale with a knotted hanky on your head, so your manliness isnt called into question!

    Beer, obviously ->

    1. YetAnotherLocksmith Silver badge

      Re: Value?

      If you pay enough, they'll move trees and ponds too. Or you can hire a digger and do it yourself. And it'd still be cheaper than this lawn mower!

  15. Yugguy

    It will KILL us all!!!

    Hasn't anyone seen Maximum Overdrive??????

    1. Stevie

      Re: Hasn't anyone seen Maximum Overdrive??????

      Unfortunately, yes I have. It is a tragedy of the human condition that one cannot unsee that which one has, in one's naivety, watched happen.

  16. NogginTheNog
    Unhappy

    Thirteen hundred quid?

    If you can afford that, hire one of the hundreds of gardeners around: a human being will do a far better job in a lot less time, and you're giving someone some employment!

    1. dogged

      Re: Thirteen hundred quid?

      Possibly, but...

      What if you've got £1300 now but you have absolutely no idea whether you're going to continue to have £SUM to pay a gardener for the five-ten year life of the mower?

      It's also smaller than a big-ass petrol mower so easier to move around and will not become redundant with a smaller lawn. Electric charging means it's way more convenient, too.

  17. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I have one of these and it is great. I got it for somewhat less than the advertised price, but if it ever breaks would seriously consider paying £1300 for a new one.

    It cuts on a 'little and often' basis so only takes a few mm off the lawn at a time which then rots into the existing grass, never had a problem with the clippings going where they shouldn't.

    If I could criticise one thing it is that it is not very good at getting up to the edge of wall / decks etc but still knocks mowing by hand into a cocked hat.

  18. William Donelson

    First they came for the Gardeners, and I did not speak out—

    Because I was not a Gardener.

    Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—

    Because I was not a Trade Unionist.

    Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—

    Because I was not a Jew.

    Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.

    Serious here. When will your job go? And.... WHO will own the robots? (Hint: NOT YOU)

    1. dogged

      If you buy the lawn-mowing robot, you own the lawn-mowing robot.

      Please, there's only so much doom&gloom anyone can take seriously.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Please, there's only so much doom&gloom anyone can take seriously.

        You take posts here seriously? Seriously? Bwahahaha :)

  19. Dave Bell

    A scythe is cheaper, but people expect you to grin a lot and speak in small caps.

    1. AOD
      Devil

      @ Dave Bell

      Don't forget the requirement to have a horse called Binky...

  20. Will Godfrey Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Totally missing the point

    People have ride-on mowers because they like playing with them or think it makes them look important to the neighbours or even want to brag about the amount of land they have round their house.

    1. Stevie

      Re: Totally missing the point

      People have ride-on mowers for a variety of reasons, some of them undoubtedly the rather small and mean ones you cite, but I want one mostly because it would make the job of cutting the grass fun.

      Which it isn't.

      1. Will Godfrey Silver badge
        Joke

        Re: Totally missing the point

        {sigh}

        Please note retrospective joke alert.

        1. Stevie

          Re: {sigh}

          Mmmmmmnah, I'm not seeing any "joke" content there Will. I went back to check. Are you sure you didn't leave it on the kitchen counter?

  21. SiliconSlick
    Pint

    I'll stick with my RoboMow

    The Friendly Robotics "RoboMow" RL-500 that I paid $600 for 12 years ago may not be the most efficient as it zig-zags across the yard, but what do I care... I'm sitting inside in the AC (in Texas) drinking my beer. Given that it seems to have been built to last, when it come time for a new one I'll probably just buy one from them. http://www.robomow.com/en-UK/

  22. Kevin McMurtrie Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    How much do parts cost?

    It doesn't look like those little apple peelers screwed into a frisbee will survive a rock or piece of rose wood left on the lawn.

  23. stu 4

    mental.

    my gardener charges me 20 quid a pop. once every 2 weeks.

    He trims the edges, pulls the weeds and disposes of the grass afterwards.

    In a standard year, I maybe get 10 cuts = 200 quid.

    So, that thing has a ROI of over 6 years. By which time it will be 5 years of of warranty, have gone through god knows how many batteries, and in all likelyhood have spend most of the 6 years in the back of the garage after finding it was shit.

    the wonders of technology.....

  24. Stevie

    Bah!

    In middle of lawn, place long rebar spike and drive into ground.

    Install eyebolts in mower skirt at front and rear on left or right side to preference.

    Position inexpensive gas-powered self-propelled mower at property line.

    Measure length of doubled rope from mower to ring, and tie rope to spike with prussic knot so the overlapping loop is pointing in the same direction as the mower.

    Attach one end of rope to front eyebolt, and the other end to the other eyebolt.

    Start mower.

    Disable namby-pamby wimp-proof safeguard deadman switch using more rope., clamps, duct tape etc.

    Engage drive.

    Get the kid to do the bits left over when the mower crashes into the spike.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Bah!

      Get the kid to do the bits left over when the mower crashes into the spike.

      Would that not be more like "gather the left over kids remains"? :)

  25. Anonymous IV

    So if it's robotic...

    ... what is the point of the two ethernet sockets at the front?

  26. Stevie

    Bah!

    Many objections have been voiced here, and some of them are to the point and have merit.

    But to my mind the most serious flaw in this so-called "robot" is that it mounts not one anti-robomower weapon, and hence is incapable of taking the fight to your neighbor's robomower when the gloves come off.

    Where are the circular saws, fuel-cell powered hammers and close-defense spiked skirts?

    "Inclusive" indeed!

    1. SiliconSlick
      Pint

      Re: Bah!

      I've pondered a chain relay so I could mount the three spinning blades a bit further out to the edge.

      Except... I like most my neighbours and their dogs/cats/etc.

      I figured it would help with the edges, which my RL-500 has problems with, regardless of multiple wire adjustments.

      But as configured from the factory, it is pretty safe (it'd be real had for a pet or child to get harmed). Tweaking it might be.... problematic.

      ss (who doesn't like the sight of blood)

  27. We're all in it together

    Save some money by

    Popping into the local DIY store that sells one then buy enough wire to stretch from the store to your garden (avoiding major traffic junctions etc) and await its arrival

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