Commercial Robot Lawn mowers
Commercial Robot lawn mowers are one of the next steps in automation for the landscaping and greenkeeping industries. They are what happens when you apply robotics, automation, and AI to the field of gardening and lawn maintenance. Many businesses have the potential for large savings in money.
There aren’t a large number of them available at the moment but innovation in the area is ongoing and better more refined machines are being produced all the time.
Robot lawnmowers are designed to work together to cover large areas so that they can do the work of 1 or several greenkeepers at golf clubs, stadiums, public parks, and many other areas where maintaining a great lawn is important.
Robotic lawnmowers accelerate the mowing of large areas such as football fields and golf courses, so you can get through more clients in 24 hours without manually doing the backbreaking work of mowing a lawn. Most importantly, it gives you the freedom to attend to other pertinent tasks. These robot mowers have a quiet operation, which is perfect for facilities that require their lawn to be trimmed frequently, especially during business hours.
Benefits of Commercial Robot LawnMowers
When it comes to lawnmowers, commercial robot lawnmowers hold several benefits over conventional residential mowers:
Cost Savings
Commercial robot lawn mower cuts on time, labour, and manual maintenance. It also cuts down on air and noise pollution.
Savings on labour costs
In business, time is money. For service-based companies like landscaping, the working hours are mostly spent doing the physical work, which leaves little to no time for other tasks, such as finding new clients. Robot lawnmowers, though, are autonomous and can mow the lawn with little to no supervision.
You can operate this machine through the app on your phone, and you don’t even need to hire additional workers to meet the demand. This means workers can do other tasks like trimming the trees or bushes, and do other things while the robot handles the bulk of the manual work. You get the same result with less cost also without compromising on quality.
Consumable cost reductions
Commercial robot mowers don’t use gas, they don’t need oil, filters, or hydraulic fluid. On top of this, there is no danger of spilling any of these products and there is no need to store or manage any of them.
Robotic lawn mowers don’t need consumables other than cutting blades.
Robotic mowers simply need electricity supplied to their base stations and from time to time they need their blades changed.
This is a significant reduction in cost just in consumable materials alone. this also saves a significant amount of time that would otherwise be spent managing fuel and completing services and maintenance that is required on large commercial-scale mowing equipment.
Robot lawnmowers also reduce the amounts of fertilizer required to maintain a lawn this is because rather than removing the clippings from the lawn, that takes away all the nutrients present in the grass. The Mowers mulch the clippings very finely and leave them on the lawn so that it breaks back down into the soil effectively mulching the grass with its own clippings.
Operate at night, or on a weekend
Commercial robotic mowers don’t have to go home, other than for recharging that is. so they can work any time you want them to. This means that you can get them to work only on the weekend or only at night. This could be especially helpful for an area that always has people around during the day.
Public parks, schools, childcare centres, and other areas like this where it’s not practical or safe to have a mower active during the day would really benefit from the fact that a commercial mower can operate at night or on the weekend.
They also don’t need overtime rates and operating at night can actually be beneficial if they are using off-peak power rates to recharge.
Quiet operation
Commercial robot lawnmowers are much quieter than their gas-powered counterparts, due to the fact that they use electric motors that are very quiet in comparison.
This means that if you have a need to control the noise of your mowing operations. Or if you are limited in when you can cut the grass due to the noise. Then robotic mowers would be a great option for you.
Most robot mowers are quiet enough to operate without causing noise pollution at all and even if you don’t have any of these limitations having your mower operations will still be a benefit. any reduction to noise pollution no matter where it is, is a bonus.
Reliable, Consistency and High Quality
Robot mowers don’t have bad days, they don’t get tired, and they don’t care if it’s raining or it’s 3 am. As long as they have a charged battery and sharp blades they will do the job.
They will also do the same great job every single time, no issues no compromises. When you ask a computer to do a job you know that it will be consistent and unchanging. With GPS and all the other sensors commercial robot mowers have they are adaptable to the situation and this allows them to reliably do the job time after time after time with no variation.
Robot Mowers are Better for the Environment and Community
Needless to say that robot mowers are better for the environment. They produce much fewer greenhouse gasses. This also reduces the direct pollution released into the air and as we show in a recent article we posted about the number of deaths caused by the pollution from gas-powered lawnmowers, they have a real impact on the health of everyone.
If your business has environmental goals, as all businesses should have these days, then changing over to robot mowers is a great step to take toward meeting those goals. They really do reduce the impact a business has on the environment and improve the health of everyone around you at the same time.
Commercial vs Retail Robot Mowers – What’s the Difference?
So what makes a robot mower a commercial model?
Well, it’s mainly about capacity, normal consumer robotic mowers are designed to be used in yards of a house rather on large stadiums or parks.
Some of the biggest differences that set commercial robot mowers apart from retail modes are,
- They have much larger batteries, for longer run times and are able to run more cutting heads for the bigger cutting width of commercial robot mowers.
- Much wider cutting width, to cut larger areas of lawn in shorter amounts of time.
- Designed to work together with other robotic mowers to cover large areas.
This is important for very large areas like golf courses where it is important to have multiple robots working together to cover the large area as it is too much for a single unit. - The management software is more sophisticated for controlling multiple robots together.
With more management features and also designed to control groups of robots rather than just a single unit.
Best Commercial Robot Lawn Mowers on the Market
What is the most popular robot lawn mower? There are several high-quality commercial robot mowers available on the market right now and also others currently in development, we have included the top options here so you can choose the best robot mower for your business.
Husqvarna Automower Commercial Robotic Lawn Mowers
Husqvarna is one of the pioneers of robot lawnmowers. The group introduced the first robotic lawnmower— solar-powered at that— in 1995. To date, they’ve sold more than 1 million autonomous mowers.
The Automower range is Husqvarna’s collection of commercial-grade robotic lawnmowers explicitly designed to handle large properties. They help you increase productivity by freeing up hours that you can allocate elsewhere. Its efficiency is designed for landscapers looking to reduce their labour and equipment costs, campuses wanting a quieter and eco-friendly way to maintain the lawn, commercial properties that want an affordable way to get good-looking turf at all times, and home builders who want to bring in new home buyers by using smart home equipment.
Automower Commercial Comparison Table:
| Model | Automower 450XH | Automower 550 | Automower 550 H | Automower 535 AWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Working area capacity | ~1.25 acre | ~1.25 acre | ~1.25 acre | ~0.9 acre |
| Cutting height | 2 to 3.5inches | 0.8 to 2.4 inches | 2 to 3.5inches | 1.2-2.8inches |
| Mow time in one charge | 270 minutes | 270 minutes | 270 minutes | 100 minutes |
| Typical charging time | 60 minutes | 60 minutes | 60 minutes | 30 minutes |
| Features | Automower Connect GPS-assisted navigation LED headlights Superior interaction | Husqvarna Fleet Services GPS-assisted navigation Remote object detection Commercial user interface | Husqvarna Fleet Services GPS-assisted navigation Remote object detection Commercial user interface | Husqvarna Fleet Services Automower All-Wheel Drive Pivoting rear body design Commercial user interface |
About Commercial Automowers
The commercial Automowers are basically the same as the retail models that you can buy the main difference they have is the ability to connect to the Husqvarna fleet services platform for central management of the robots.
Operation
The perimeter wire essentially designated the boundary of the lawn. Its purpose is to ensure that the mower doesn’t work outside the defined area. When the mower meets the wire, it triggers the machine to stop, turn, and continue working in another direction. This is great if you have a playground, fountains, or other objects within the property you want to keep the mower away from.
Husqvarna Automower comes equipped with a collision sensor. When it hits an object like a tree trunk, it will stop and change directions. It can handle gentle bumps without getting or causing damage.
When low in battery, there are three ways for the AutoMower will automatically return to the charging station:
- It follows the radio signals emitted by the charging station
- It follows a guidewire to the station
- Or, it can follow the perimeter wire back to the charging station.
Once the battery is completely charged, it will continue to work without you manually turn it on again.
This mower comes with a guidewire whose purpose goes beyond guiding the machine to the changing station. It also expertly leads the mower through narrow passages into remote, hard-to-reach areas. This is perfect if you have multiple sites that need to be mowed but are separated by a narrow pathway.
Cut quality
The Husqvarna Automower has razor-sharp blades that spin and cut the blade of grass a few millimeters at a time. The finely chopped grass is dissipated back onto the lawn, which enriched the soil with a flow of fresh nutrients, producing a layer of plush, healthy grass in just a few weeks.
The Automower works in a random pattern. This way, there are no straight wheel tracks on the lawn.
Safety
For safety, the blades are situated underneath the machine, not at the outer edge. So even if it were to bump against an obstacle, the blades would cause no harm. It also has a lift and tilt safety feature which stops it when it comes into contact with anything.
It also comes with GPS-assisted navigation, which will emit an anti-theft siren and send you GPS coordinates of its location if anyone were to try and run off with it.
Automower Commercial Fleet Services Software
The commercial models of Husqvarna Automowers can easily be connected to Husqvarnas free central management platform, Husqvarna Fleet Services. This platform is called fleet services and is also compatible with a whole range of other equipment from Husqvarna. You can even get sensors you can attach to any machine to connect it to the platform.
You can integrate and control the fleet through Husqvarna Fleet Services and the Automower Connect app from your smartphone or tablet. You can change settings for all mowers, individually, through the app, which can be a blessing for those who have landscaping businesses with multiple clients and multi-sites.
This is a great system that allows central management and monitoring of your whole fleet in real time. This makes maintenance very easy. Allowing one person to simply manage a whole fleet of robot mowers monitoring their operations, with the ability to quickly take action if any of them run into an issue or need servicing.
Here are some screenshots of the Husqvarna fleet webpage. You can see the dashboard view above and the map showing all the units below. This really is a perfect interface and gives anyone all the control and feedback they need to manage a fleet of robot mowers.
Echo Robotics TM-2000 Commercial Robotic Lawn Mower
The Echo Robotics TM2000 lawnmower is designed to mow up to 6 acres. It’s geared to make turf management easier. It can swiftly and efficiently fulfill the grass-cutting needs of sports fields, driving ranges, schools and municipalities, and more.
They will also provide you with a customized solution if you’re in an industry that hasn’t yet, adopted the wonders of automated lawnmowers. This model is actively used to maintain over 1,200 soccer fields in Europe. It’s autonomous, emission-free, leaves behind healthier— stripe-free— terrain, and can be monitored and controlled through an app.
This model has a basic version too, TM1000, but its area covered is limited to 3 acres.
Echo Robot Mower Specifications:
| Model | TM-1000 | TM-2000 |
|---|---|---|
| Surface Max | ~3 acres | 6 acres |
| Speed | 1.7 mph | 2.2 mph |
| Battery | Lithium-Ion, 25.6 Volts | Lithium-Ion, 25.6 Volts |
| Mowing Width | 24.9 in | 40.7 in |
| Weight (with batteries) | 105.6 lb | 156.5 lb |
| Annual energy consumption | 555 kWh | 830kWh |
| Dimensions | 3.4 ft x 3.3 ft x 1.5 ft | 4.2 ft x 3.6 ft x 1.7 ft |
| Mowing Height | 0.8 inches to 3.9 inches | 0.8 inches to 3.9 inches |
| Cutting Heads | 3 floating heads | 5 floating heads |
| Blades | 3 blades per head | 3 blades per head |
About the Echo TM-2000
The Echo Robotics TM2000 trims turf to the designated height, which can be anywhere from 0.8 in – 3.9 inches. This mower can handle daily trimmings throughout the year, which is excellent for the turf. The finely clipped grass is left behind on the ground, which decomposes and becomes natural fertilizer to propel further grass growth.
Cut Quality
The continuous trimming keeps the grass healthy while also eliminating the need for turf collection or to buy more fertilizers and other chemicals. TM2000 is quite wide, which means it can clip through a wider area at a time.
Echo Robotics TM2000 has 5 floating cutting heads that spin and move up and down according to the terrain’s gradient. This is great for an uneven field with plenty of bumps and dips. Protective discs around the head of the blade ensure that no objects on the turf are harmed during mowing.
Monitoring and control
The mower can be monitored from anywhere through your phone, tablet, or PC. You can even remotely troubleshoot the mower in case of performance issues. This means that the turf manager doesn’t have to be physically present in the turf to oversee the robot’s performance or status.
Echo Robotics TM2000 comes with a peripheral wire to define the boundary of operation. The robot will move randomly within this field to ensure there are no track prints.
It also comes equipped with 5 sonar sensors to detect objects at a distance. When it senses an obstacle in its path, the robot will slow down to a stop, turn at a designated angle, and continue mowing in another direction.
When low in power, the Echo Robotics TM2000 will automatically return to the charging station. Once fully charged, it will start working again.
It can be customized to operate on a fixed schedule around field usage and sprinkler system operation. Along with being emission-free, it boasts an energy usage that’s eight-time lower than a conventional mower.
Using the Echo Robotics TM2000 around schools and large campuses have the added benefits of inspiring curiosity among students to learn about tech and automation. They will be encouraged to study how it works and be inspired to contribute to the future of autonomous machines by seeing it in action every day.
Belrobotics Bigmow Commercial Robot Mower
The Belrobotics Bigmow is a commercial robotic lawn mower designed to tackle yards up to 5 acres in both commercial and residential spaces. It has a cute, cartoonish bullfrog-like appearance thanks to the flat front and back wheels, which look like bulging eyes. Bigmow is ideal for sports fields, schools, and any facility with uneven terrain.
BelRobotics Bigmow specifications:
| Model | Belrobotics Bigmow |
|---|---|
| Surface area covered | ~ 5 acres |
| Speed | 2.2 mph |
| Mowing width | 42 inches |
| Annual consumption | 830 kWh |
| Weight | 112 lb |
| Dimensions (w x l x h) | 47 x 47 x 19.5 inches |
| Mowing height | 0.9 to 3.1 inches |
| Cutting method | 5 floating heads with 15 blades in total |
| Safety | 5 sonars |
BigMow Operation
BigMow is preinstalled with 5 sonar and touch sensors that detect obstacles over 16 inches, enabling navigation without collision. If it detects an object on its trajectory, the sonar sensors will trigger it to slow down, stop, reverse, and change direction.
BigMow is designed to run autonomously within zones defined by a buried, low-voltage perimeter wire. The mower will return to its base station when it needs a charge then it will go back to work by following the peripheral wire to commence work once recharged.
Cut Pattern and Quality
It moves in a random pattern to leave no tracks behind. But there is also a systemic mode which is designed for areas with little to no obstacles. In this mode, the mower will turn concentrically following the shape of the lawn until it reaches the center, at this point, it will mow the center randomly and work in a concentric pattern again but this time, outwards.
It’s designed to adapt to any terrain and automatically turns off its cutting system when it senses an obstacle.
The secret to its perfect cut is 5 floating stainless steel cutting blades that adapt to the contour of the terrain. These sharp blades retract immediately when the sensors detect an object, ensuring no person, pet, or thing is harmed during the operation. If someone were to lift the mower, it would immediately stop operating as a safety measure.
It mulches long grass blades very finely, which decomposes more quickly than tall grass. This reduces the need for external fertilization or even watering need because the way it mows produces little to no grass stress.
Build Quality
Its components are high-quality. Its propelled by a brushless engine, and the chassis and blades are made with aluminum and stainless steel, which compounds its durability, and keeps it light and resistant to corrosion.
It has a whisper-quiet operation, which makes it perfect for use near public and private places. It will silently work in the background without interruption. Along with no noise pollution, this mower works on clean electricity. Plus, one of the striking highlights of this mower is its low energy usage coming out to just 830 kWh or €150 per year.
Technology
Bigmow is equipped with a high-tech security feature. It has an anti-theft feature and also sends you alerts if the mower were to malfunction. This comes in handy if you have many big mowers across several sites operating at the same time. You can check on its location and status at any time through their app.
Additionally, it also saves data, which means you can compare productivity per day, week, or over a specific period of time. This way, you know that if productivity is decreasing, there might be something wrong with the mower.
Bigmow is the perfect replacement for multiple small robots, and it claims to be much cheaper than a tractor. It produces 10 times fewer carbon emissions and slashes energy costs by eight times.
Final Thoughts
Yes, commercial robot lawnmowers have their limitations. It doesn’t prune the roses or trim the bushes. Neither does it water the grass or come attached with a leaf blower. Still, it does the main, time-consuming, leg-work of keeping the grass length always trimmed, without making excuses. You don’t have to wait for your employees to show up or push around a conventional lawnmower for hours at a time. This does the job quickly, only stopping to get recharged to work more. Plus, these bots are tenacious enough to power through behemoth fields without slowing down– a colossal task that’s pretty hard for a single person to do.
Investing in a commercial robotic lawnmower will literally keep you on the cutting edge of business growth driven by revolutionary technology.
Upcoming Commercial Robot Mowers
The Graze commercial robotic lawn mower from Wavemaker labs is an exciting new addition to this space and when it is released it will be interesting to see how it performs.
The Graze has a very different design from the other robot lawnmowers out there. Rather than having a single unit. The graze is designed to be modular allowing it to perform different functions. It also has a large sensor suit making it a very smart and capable unit.
