From the beginning, Ive been skeptical about robot lawn mowers.
For medium to large lawns, I’d recommend theMammotion Luba 2.
It mowed with accuracy and consistency, rarely deterred by irregularities like dips, hills, holes or obstacles.
Inside your home, LiDAR is likely all you oughta navigate, but outside, robots need GPS.
The same is true of boundaries, where your lawn might meet a neighbors lawn.
For this reason, most lawnbots once relied on buried wire to define the spaces they worked within.
The Luba 2 features four equally sized tough wheels across a long, low body.
This has an additional benefit of allowing both the robot and tower to share one electrical plug.
Assemble it close to the location youll place the dock, because it is a bear to carry around.
That wasnt the case, and this is the only lawnmower Ive tested that paired on the first try.
Mammotion, like a lot of these robots, relies on a mix of Bluetooth, wifi and 4G.
These controls dont just affect the lawn’s appearance, but how effective the lawn is mowed.
This part was strangely fun.
If you had a flower bed without a defined wall, youd map it as a no go zone.
Everyone would stop walking and stare.
Theyd take pictures, and minutes later more people would arrive and theyd all stare together.
Cars stopped and reversed to double check that it was, in fact, a robot.
Theyd talk to each other about the robot and ask questions.
This led to the second concern I had about the robot, which was liability and safety.
However, as it navigates sidewalks and driveways between mowing areas, it might encounter them.
For that reason, all robots have a giant kill button on them.
The Luba 2 has a big STOP button on it thats easy to hit.
The moment the robot is lifted or moves from a flat position, the mower stops.
The Luba 2 comes in models that can accommodate from 1,000 square feet up to 10,000 square meters.
Its not terrific for navigating around very tight spacesit struggled around my path lights, for instance.
Where the Luba 2 really shines is in navigating bumpy spaces.
This is because of the larger body with the wheels on all four corners.
It was able to distribute weight in a way that the wheels were never bothered by terrain or inclines.
Of the mowers Ive tested so far, only the Mammotion has produced them.
Its novel to watch the feed for a moment, but ultimately not very useful.
Remember, the mower is heavy.
What no one mentions about robot lawn mowers and should is the blessed silence.
Robot lawn mowers are so quiet you have to strain to hear them cutting.
The cuttings themselves are so chopped up by the blades that theres no cuttings to move off the lawn.
Both neighbors have been really happy with the results of the robots.
A little line trimming to clean up around obstacles is all thats needed.
Then, youll grow to trust that it just does it on its own.
