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47 Comments
- DonJuanAussi, on 11/11/2008, -0/+22Can I go home?
Negative. The T1 will definitely try to reacquire you there. - zzhiwen, on 11/11/2008, -0/+17Dugg for "vulnerable to most conventional weapons."
- protodon, on 11/11/2008, -0/+8Yes but does it know the difference between your lawn and say a kitten? Because I do and I always save the kitten for last. You gotta get those wheels up to do a good job.
- wadd, on 11/11/2008, -0/+8Now with all that extra free time, I guess I'll go to the beach. Hmm... while I'm sunning myself, I wonder: How does one keep the local riff-raff from walking off with my rather expensive lawn toy?
- PeterBassett, on 11/11/2008, -0/+6Honestly, it's like no one ever saw Runaway.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088024/ - Sh0rtstak, on 11/11/2008, -0/+5I can sure use one of these
- pdrap, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4Two stroke? Those are as common in lawnmowers as nuclear fusion.
All the lawnmowers I've seen in the last 30 years are 4 stroke. - DangerCollie, on 11/11/2008, -0/+4I have one of the early Friendly Robotic models and those do a passable job. This model looks like a big improvement. If the programming is right a small lawn would pretty much maintain itself. You'll still have to edge and probably trim, but the big parts of the yard will look good all the time.
Although, based on experience with the riding mower I use now, Husqvarna is Swedish for "cut it twice." - yngtimmy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+3"come with me if you want to mow!"
- webyatri, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2my no power , zero footprint lawn mower strategy - NO FREAKIN LAWN.
I do not understanding wasting days of labour and hundreds of dollars on something which is mostly cosmetic. I spend my efforts on veggies and herbs that I can eat. Tomatoes are so much easier to grow than useless grass. - Lynxist, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2Someone call Xzibit we definitely need to pimp that ride.
I can so see this running around on some guys lawn sporting a carbon fibre finish and some shiny 20" spinners for getting to those pesky edges next to the flowerbeds. - rolf, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2Cool idea in theory, bad in practice.
1. This thing is begging to be stolen.
2. It says you need to lay wire around perimeter of lawn -- to bad it's not gps enabled. But GPS accurate enough for this chore isn't here yet (it will be in a few years with that rice sized atomic clock that's been invented and can be produced cheaply).
For half the prices, a nice riding mower is available that cuts acres of grass pretty fast. Or move to Arizona and have pretty desert rock as a lawn. - DigitalHippie73, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2Somehow I doubt that thing works very well.
- pinchduck, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2I'm sure that your robot friend mower will gladly mow your tomatoes and herbs as well as grass.
- PresidentSoup, on 11/11/2008, -0/+2I can just see the headlines now, someone's going to leave this out on their lawn and irrensponsibly let their kids go play in the yard while it's running. It would be cool to see some kind of safety feature like that one table saw that retracted when it detected flesh. The article does say it is pet and kid friendly but doesn't exactly mention how.
- SpediGonzales, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1If you have underground, pop-up sprinklers that only water at night, this might work. It'd be pretty rough on hoses otherwise.
- barryiggins, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1you ain't gonna tell me about pride in hard work till you've gone a weedin' fer poison ivy with yer teeth!
- XGIUSMC, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1For smaller lawns, I am inclined toward the old fashioned push-type mower that relies on the one energy resource most of us have too much of.
- nick111, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1That is so lazy
- MeatMountain, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2Why do they always give these robots weapons?
- Tr33fiddy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1EVERYONE.
Doesn't EVERYONE own the entire... OR, "who" doesn't own the enti...
ffs dammit, never mind. - davidg11, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1I have the same Friendly Robotics mower. Not bad if you have a smaller yard. Not much of a difference plugging it into the wall to charge vs. solar. It doesn't eat up THAT much electricity. And it costs a lot less than a solar powered one.
- powerjg, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Pretty sure I could build one for less than this thing costs.
- Tr33fiddy, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1I KNOW!
I mean, doesn't own the entire Tom Selleck back catalogue? - MWeather, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1What is the benefit of the solar panels? Do the existing lawn mowing robots run put of juice before cutting the whole yard, or is this for people with really big yards?
- gavroche, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1And what protection does it have against thieves? I see this would be easy and worthy to steal.
- MazdaEric, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1what happens when it conspires with the automatic robo-disk vacuum and eats your dog?
- MeatMountain, on 11/11/2008, -1/+2It's fueled by pets and kids.
- nick111, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Yea - I'm guessing that if you use one of these you'd have to move the hoses - similar in some ways to what you need to do with a normal mower.
- robharper, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1What keeps it from running over trash and dog *****?
- lurrker, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Neighbors have a really loud, relatively modern 2 stroke lawnboy mower. It can't be bogged down, and is super light. You might have meant fission since the last plant was made in 1996.
http://www.lawn-boy.com/productinfo/mowers/goldpro ... - kubedawg, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1GPS?
- trestevenson, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Definitely the sleekest lawnmower I've ever seen.
- BigglesPiP, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Didn't one of these kill recently?
- tgc1, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Well it's about time. They already have batter powered autonomous mowers. Not sure about cost. But these are pretty equivalent to the roomba. I'm just hoping they start to pick up. I'm not sure how many people LIKE doing lawn maintenance of that sort. So these things should sell like hot cakes. Providing they are affordable.
- kubedawg, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1This is cool. Less chores = more internet. Win win if you ask me.
- elementop, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Why bother? Just turn it into mulch as you mow :D
- drugfree1, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1I love Roomba products. But, at the same time, while checking them out as a company to invest in, found out they make most of their money by producing robots for war.
- Observant1, on 11/12/2008, -0/+1there was a solar powered automatic lawnmower invented centuries ago
it was called goat on a rope. - doktorrocket, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1"While the idea of robots armed with rotating blades and a solar installation may invite some technological anxiety, rest assured that the Automower weighs under 20lbs and is presumably vulnerable to most conventional weapons."
"Presumably?" My god man, the future of humanity is at stake. The basic tenets of journalism demand you test one against the typical post-apocalyptic arsenal of shotguns, chainsaws, and some overly-complex device that hurls jars of acid. - elementop, on 11/11/2008, -0/+1Two of my friends...oh, never mind.
- Dronez, on 11/11/2008, -0/+0Why does it have a tail light?
- vthokiestm, on 11/11/2008, -1/+1Does it also pick up the dog poop before it mows, or do you need a separate robot for thatL
- mysticturner, on 11/12/2008, -0/+0I've got an Ambrogio. It's an Italian made robotic mower. Works great. The Husky in the article is about the 3rd or 4th gen that Husky has made. Not ever been real impressed with what they've done (except the one they bought from Ambrogio and re-branded). While my experience is from a different manufacturer, all of them have used similar designs. I'll try to answer some of the questions posted.
They do a great job if you program them to mow lots. Like 4 or more days a week. Since it's not me doing the work, I don't care. Some however require manual starting, which conflicts with 'easy'.
It accelerates the decomposition of poop by cutting it into lots of small bits and spreading it around. My big dog (50#) was taking a dump once and watching over her shoulder as the mower was headed for the target. Pretty hilarious. As far as safety, the casing is loosely mounted to bump switches which tell the unit if it's bumped into a dog or tree or ?. Then it backs up and goes another direction. If some teenager flips the unit over, it shuts down. Mine is over 45#s so your 5 year old is going to have a tough time picking it up. I'd worry about this thing being 20#s.
Trash and other objects - It will eat them. I've left out sheet tin metal and it shreaded it. - pinchduck, on 11/11/2008, -1/+1it has acquired a taste...for flesh. It started with squirrels and chipmonks. I didn't mind, at first, because the rodent population was dropping. Then neighborhood pets started to disappear and I got worried. I would look for the mower to shut it down, but it kept hiding...
- memper, on 11/11/2008, -3/+2"Anyone who has ever spent an afternoon mowing lawns knows the downsides of the job: walking in monotonous straight lines with the filthy emissions of a two-stroke engine in their face, and a subway ’s worth of noise to contend with."
This is a goddamn right of passage. Trust no one who's never mowed a lawn or burned leaves, they don't know pride in hard work for the sake of it alone.
"Get your damn robot off my lawn!"
Do I really want or need an attractive lawn mower? WTF is wrong with this world?
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