Garden innovations - robot mower

Could it possibly be that the days of pushing and pulling a mower around the lawn are over? Maybe so - there are new model of lawn mower that not only cut the grass for you, but can carry out a number of clever operations just as you would yourself. For example, the top range robotic mowers are equipped with a sonar detection system that automatically slow down when they sense an object close by - meaning that they don't run full tilt into the kiddies' paddling pool for example. These detection systems will also stop the blades before they cut into the object - ideal for people who have children or pets that tend to leave objects around the garden.

The top of the range robotic mowers also have touch sensors which can change the direction of the mower's blades when they feel on object, other than grass, to prevent that object being run over. The downside of this, of course, is that you do have to go out and pick up every pebble off the lawn or the mower will carefully mow round each one! On the plus side, such new detection systems make lawn mower injuries and damage almost impossible.

Remember that if you have pets, they made need to be introduced to a mower. Most dogs have a tendency to bark and chase a moving object that makes noise and while the new sensor systems ensure your pets are most unlikely to be injured, the noise can be very annoying for your neighbours.

You don't even have to switch the latest mowers on. Rather, once the mower is set up, it comes out as programmed and returns home to be charged when its set time is up or the batteries run down. It may even have a rain sensor to send it home when it starts to rain. Some mowers even have a special sensor which means that when they sense long grass, they automatically go into a spiral mode and mow grass in immediate area in efficient helix fashion, but when long grass is no longer sensed they return to random operation until they encounter more long grass.

Garden innovation mower photograph by Halley, used under a creative commons attribution licence