The Robots Are Coming, The Robots Are Coming!

The first quarter of 2026 has been an absolute roadshow promoting autonomous robotic lawnmowing.  From the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this January with Mammotion to a variety of regional home, landscape, and outdoor shows in Detroit, Minneapolis, Rochester, Marquette, Appleton, Wausau, and beyond we’ve had the opportunity to promote this technology and discuss it with a variety of businesses and people.  We will continue this through April with four more shows before our lawn care and landscaping season really takes off.  The success has been mixed, we’ve sold quite a bit of product but the interest and conversations we’ve been able to have will prove far more valuable in the long term.

Individual consumers are extremely interested and positive when seeing this technology demonstrated.  Some have used or seen it and there are a few using it now with many more already thinking about adapting this technology.  The consumer who was not aware this capability existed immediately has their interest peaked and starts thinking about their situation and potential application, while often asking dozens of questions.  Regardless of how your lawn is mowed now and if you pay for a service or do it yourself using this technology can improve quality while saving time, money, or potentially both.  This isn’t some far fetched idea or cute product that might work once technology improves.  The practical application of automated robotic mowing for the vast majority of residential applications is already here and working; in North America it is just not normal, yet.

Being that our firm works primarily with Mammotion and is their exclusive distributor for Michigan, Wisconsin, & Minnesota we are actively working to establish a strong dealer network for both sales and support along with promoting individual sales in our territory.  As such we have talked to many businesses as well.  The majority of business owners we engage with are landscapers, existing robotic dealers, home automation companies, traditional lawn/garden dealers, or lawn servicing contractors.  Many of these folks are not entirely aware of the capability of today’s technology either.   Currently Mammotion has products that run from $1000 and change to up $4000 and change on the retail side, the biggest driver of price being the acreage they can cover, with around .2 acres being their smallest model and 2.5 acres currently their largest.  With the capability and cost of units currently available along with the time it takes them to complete the task it usually isn’t practical to move units from property to property on the commercial side.  Mammotion has plans that were publicly unveiled in January 2026 for the Maston, a commercial unit with more advanced features and a 10 acre capability.  The hope is that this will be out in the fall of  2026. 

There is certainly more advancement to be had regarding commercial applicability of robotic mowing when dealing with multiple properties and much larger acreage.  Kress seems to be leading the way in this segment with the roll out of their Voyager series that was announced last fall at Equip Expo in Louisville.  This is an entirely new concept with having a dedicated robotic unit as part of a traditional landscaping crew rotating from property to property and they are getting some traction as well.  Our model on the commercial side involves a dedicated unit or units at a property that mow on a regular basis versus transporting a robotic machine with a crew and trying to complete multiple jobs in a day. There is a high level of coordination with route based robotic implementation of mowers when trying to get the robotic mower to complete its task around the same time the manned crew is done with edging, trim, pruning, bed clean outs, blowing, or other tasks. There is a high likelihood one will be waiting for the other. We carry commercial robotic mowers that are fully autonomous and can handle up around 30 acres in 3 days, at a relatively affordable price point given their capabilities.

We have had occasional negativity with some saying robots are taking jobs away from people.  I get this thought process, but quite frankly it is far too simple, and it is wrong.  Automation and technology are never going to eliminate all jobs.  They are going to change jobs and workflows substantially and those of us that realize this and use technology to increase quality and productivity alongside technology stand to benefit the most.  This change and challenge isn’t unique to robotic mowing, we are really behind the 8 ball when it comes to many industries including manufacturing and logistics which are already incorporating high levels of AI and robotics into many of their workflows.

If there is a single constant in today’s world it is certainly change.  The pace of such continues to accelerate and while many of us, myself included, would love to stop it we are powerless to do so.  Change, innovation, and continuous improvement have been hallmarks of humanity, even going back to the dawn of time when learning to use basic tools and use fire.  

If your firm is doing landscape maintenance or lawn mowing for some or all of its operations you cannot afford to ignore this technology.  Right now the most logical set up is a dedicated unit for the mowing at each property and having your firm still complete the more technical aspects including edging, trim, cleaning/blowing out beds, mulch application, aeration, fertilization, and any herbicide/pesticide treatments.  Taking a step back and not viewing robotics as a threat but as a teammate is important.  Robotic mowing can take the most basic, labor intensive, and time consuming part of your operation and automate it, while likely improving the frequency you can provide the service and the quality of the service provided.  This leaves your company and your staff to focus on the higher quality and higher margin services provided and outlined above.  It also allows your company to handle more business and keep that business more profitable.  When we are working with contractors we can be quite flexible in terms of cost and payment schedules for machines.  Right now our model is limited to having dedicated unit or units at each property but there is really no size limitation as they can be combined to handle additional acreage requirements.  The pay back period is often around a year from the time these units are put into service.  

The units coming out today have very advanced features including Lidar and iNavi which allows for operation via satellite without having to mount a permanent reference station.  Our units from Mammotion all have 3 year warranties and no recurring monthly costs after purchase.  Additionally it is easy to monitor multiple machines and locations from one app platform.   As a contractor providing this service you can chose to charge month to month for services provided or have the customer purchase the robotic unit with you charging for all ancillary services you provide as well as set up/installation, winter storage, maintenance, etc if a complete hands off experience is what the customer demands.  Robotic mowing is particularly advantageous in areas with many obstacles like trees, flower beds, etc.  The mowers work efficiently around all of these obstacles and these are often not efficient areas to mow in terms of time with larger commercial stand on units.  Robotic mowers are offered with all wheel drive and can handle extensive vertical slopes, difficult terrain, and side slopes.

Customers love robotic mowing once they experience it.  These units are very quiet, you can’t even hear them if you are 25’ away.  They don’t pollute or require any type of fuel or lubricants to run.  Other than changing blades there is nearly no recurring maintenance needed.  Set up often takes 30-60 minutes for an average lawn and after that it operates fully autonomously.  The average power annually is between $6.00 and $8.00.  If power isn’t available (think remote cemetery or golf course) we have solar options we can install that include panels and a generating station with bulk battery for recharging.   Mowing with robotic units is typically done at a more frequent pace and lawns always look clean, striped, and freshly cut.  Any clippings are cut finely as we are taking less height off per cut and they compost into the earth quicker.  This adds organic content to soil and results in healthier soils long term, all while avoiding the need to bag or blow.  When the grass is cut more frequently it also trains it to grow thicker horizontally as it isn’t able to be successful reaching upwards.

The benefits in terms of quality and time are there today.