Robotic Lawn Mowers and Local Authorities

Robotic lawn mowers are being used by local authorities in the UK and America to lower the risks to maintenance

employees cutting grass on roadside verges and other public areas where steep terrain poses a problem. Strimmers and ride-on lawn mowers have been used in the past to cut large swathes of grass that borders roads and parks, and while these are efficient to a point, there is still a risk of a ride-on mower toppling over on sloping ground, not to mention the time and effort it takes to get these large machines to the site that needs to be mown.

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With this in mind, Conwy Council have invested £20,000 in a powerful radio-controlled lawn mower, nicknamed Spider, that is being put to work cutting the grass on the verges along the A55. The robotic lawn mower makes short work of the tough vegetation that makes up the roadside verge, and can work on inclines of up to 65 degrees. Operator Carl Knott controls the 650cc machine as it mows down the grass, keeping him at a safe distance from the fast-moving traffic. Because the operators don’t have to be near the robotic lawn mower they are much safer, being able to stand in a sensible place rather than right alongside the road. It also means there is no risk of turning an ankle on the steep slopes, making the robotic technology much safer all around for the maintenance crews.

The embankments at the Clear Fork Reservoir Dam in Mansfield, Ohio, pose a similar problem when it comes to mowing the grass. Any vegetation needs to be trimmed regularly to protect the integrity of the dam, but with very tall and steep slopes, using a ride-on mower is impractical and risky. A push mower would be very hard work, and just as dangerous to use, so the Mayor, Tim Theaker, decided to invest $24,000 in a robotic lawn mower that runs on caterpillar tracks just like a small tank. Concerned for the safety of maintenance employees, officials knew that a solution had to be found for the problem of regular maintenance to the grassed banks, one that would not pose a risk to public safety. The robotic lawn mower was the perfect option, and will also help solve the same problem in other areas where there is steep ground and grass to mow.

Although not part of a local authority project, we liked the ingenuity of this American man’s robotic lawn mower project but we’re not sure how this one would cope with a steep hill. An engineer and programmer known as Ostafichuk wanted a robotic lawn mower for his home, but could not afford the high price tag of the commercially available models, so decided to build his own in the shape of a Dalek. The heavy wooden construction of the Dalek body might make it unstable on steep ground, but this is one robotic lawn mower that is more for fun than serious lawn maintenance. Ostafichuk devised the navigation program for the lawn mower, and built the Dalek body himself, which holds the two lawn tractor wheels and motors that power them. He used motors originally designed for car seat adjustments to provide a finely tuned motion, and powered the unit with a deep-cycle car battery and solar panels to charge it. With all that going on underneath it is hardly surprising that the robotic lawn mower has turned out to be the shape and size of a Dalek! The Dalek lawn mower is a work in progress; there is still work to be done in order to make it actually cut grass, but it was put to good use over Halloween. Perhaps by spring next year Ostafichuk will be ready to exterminate his overgrown lawn?