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Long on grass but short on time? Here are the machines that can help out
You only need to enter “robot fails” into Google to see the many and, frankly, hilarious videos of hapless robots that haven’t been up to the task they’ve been created for.
From Sophia, the AI talking bot, who claimed she would “destroy humans” during an interview, to the many attempts to replicate a human walking that have resulted in robots staggering around like they’ve had one too many during their last software update.
Robot mowers, on the other hand, are a resounding success story and are getting more sophisticated and capable of keeping your lawn trim without you having to lift a finger.
Some machines still require the laying of boundary wire and locating and connecting a charging station, but there is an increasing number of “drop and go” machines available that are almost entirely autonomous, relying on cameras and AI to enable them to do everything else.
Regardless of how the machines navigated, we needed to test two major metrics. First, we wanted to know how manoeuvrable the mower was around the garden, did it have the ability to get out of sticky situations (like a rather nasty, gnome-based tangle) without us having to come to its aid; or was it equipped with the tech smarts to avoid getting stuck in the first place.
Secondly, in what condition did it leave the lawn and how did the finish compare with traditional manual mowing. All the mowers on test were mulchers because they can’t drag a grass box around with them, so, any clippings are returned to the lawn to self-fertilise the soil.
When it comes to taking over the chore of mowing the lawn, these are definitely the droids you’re looking for – offering a healthy-looking lawn and navigation so good it won’t terrorise the family tortoise.
Mowers can be tricky to test without having access to the grounds of a country house, so testing involved finding willing homeowners to lend us their lawns, so we could find out just how good the mowers are. This gave us ready access to all sizes of lawns, from half a tennis court upwards of three or four – whatever size the lawn, we wanted the cut to resemble Centre Court at the start of Wimbledon.
We set up a tricky obstacle course, which included permanent obstacles, such as a hard path and a fish pond, as well as some less permanent ones, such as footballs, a garden hose and a fake tortoise.
As always, we also looked at the price of each product to assess its price-quality ratio.
While it’s always important to rely on caution and teach kids about the dangers of gardening machinery, robot mowers are equipped with a plethora of safety features to make sure that pets and children are out of harm’s way. Blades are housed well under the unit to prevent accidental contact, and the mower will instantly stop the blade motor if it’s picked up or knocked. On-board cameras can spot obstacles near the mower and navigate around them, while some mowers can emit a loud beeping noise to warn off pets and wildlife in their path.
Yes, though as with any mower, you’ll get the best results with a perfectly even lawn. Robot mowers allow you to set the cutting height, which helps to compensate for any lumps and bumps in your lawn, so with a bit of trial and error you can find the ideal setting for your garden. Most robot mowers are powerful enough to deal with steep slopes too, even gardens with a mixture of slopes and flat terrain.
When it comes to robot mowers, you have to pay for the privilege of fully automating your lawn mowing schedule, which is why we really like the LawnMaster VBRM16, as it side-steps the task of laying boundary wire and gives you a taste of what a fully autonomous model can do for your lawn (and your life) while delivering excellent performance at a relatively affordable price. Meanwhile, the Worx landroid vision L1600 would have to be our pick of the fully autonomous machines, as it really is a vision of the future of robotic mowing, free from boundary wires. However, wired mowers still have plenty to offer in terms of affordability and utility and the Cobra mowbot 1200 was one of the best on test.
For more garden essentials, check out our guide to the best outdoor storage boxes