Robotic Lawn Mowers - What Else Can They Do?

Sure we focus on robotic autonomous mowing for turf and grass but many of these machines have multiple functions.  Some of these functions can add significant value and capability to these units, especially in commercial models. 

Some available options and accessories include:

Ball Picker - One of our manufacturers and some others offer a golf ball picking feature that works excellent in a range type environment.  Typically these units can collect and dispenese golf balls as well as mow grass.

Dew Brush - One of our commercial models has an additional attachment that can be used to remove heavy dew in the morning hours.  This is typically for a golf course environment.

Snow Plow/Blower - we have tested some units that have these with mixed success.  They do work but we havn’t found them to be as autonomous as when mowing grass only.  They also come with fairly significant cost.

Leaf/Grass Collecting - Several varieties have some sort of attachment for collecting and dumping items in the mowing environment, including grass clippings, leaves, pinecones, pine needles, etc.  These generally work quite well.

Leaf Blower - We have seen some units with a blower unit but don’t have first hand experieince with these.

Line Striper For Athletic Fields: This is perhaps the most valuable accessory for a commercial robotic lawn mower.  We have several options for these and while they add some cost they are incredible versitile for painting athletic fields autonomously.  There are multiple companies manufacturing stand alone field marking equipment and some of these prices are higher for a stand alone unit than our combination units that can mow and stripe.  Accurately marketing athletic fields is time consuming and has marginal costs with paint consumption in addition to labor.  These machines work autonomously to mark entire fields and also are much more efficient with paint use than a person is. 

What’s next - it’s hard to say.  Surely there will be continued evolution in terms of what these machines can do.