How Honda’s robotic lawnmowers could do to the lawn mower what Roomba did to the vacuum cleaner
A fad like the Hula Hoop and Pogs, or the future of lawn mowing? Robotic lawnmowers could be a must-have item in some gardens. Image by Dario Lo Presti (via Shutterstock).
First there was the robotic vacuum cleaner. Then came robotic lawnmowers, a bit like their vacuum based counterparts, though they cut grass instead. Honda’s cutting edge lawnmowers will take the heat out of lawnmowing but, will they be as fun as the ride-on variety?
The Miimo is Honda’s baby. Its rival robotic lawnmowers include the Robomow and the Worx Landlord. The Miimo 310 is their entry level model, selling at around £1,699.49 with 1.8 amperes per hour. Next up is the Miimo 520 which is around £1,954.49 (3.6Ah). Its top of the range model is the Miimo 3000. This covers up to 4,000 square metres.
Honda’s robotic lawnmowers come with a smartphone app (which at this moment only covers Android devices).
Rival devices
In the quest for the supremacy of robotic lawnmowers, Honda’s competition includes the Worx Landroid. This uses the Android operating system and artificial intelligence to mow your lawn. Models are priced at similar levels to Honda’s devices, though entry level mowers are cheaper. Friendly Robotics’ Robomow has a lower price point: its cheapest robotic lawnmowers are below £500.
How will they compare with ride-on lawnmowers?
Robotic mowers are good for many homes with modest gardens. For bigger gardens and recreation grounds, there’s no contest: ride-on lawnmowers all the way. With ride-on lawnmowers, broken robotic lawnmowers could be used as a hockey puck for a very expensive game of lawn mower hockey (definitely filed under ‘don’t try this at home’).
Redblade Mowers, 16 May 2017.
