My autonomous lawn mower thread/blog

tedimc

murfler wrote: »

That will not help, robots front wheel will go over Kerb and get stuck..having no kerbing and just grass level with finished driveway is the best solution in my opinion

I’ve never seen this done? Is there any border between the two?

I was planning to put the kerb on its back and tarmac up to the narrow edge. Grass to the wider edge and the taper between the two would allow to robot to go over and back easily.

murfler

tedimc wrote: »

I’ve never seen this done? Is there any border between the two?

I was planning to put the kerb on its back and tarmac up to the narrow edge. Grass to the wider edge and the taper between the two would allow to robot to go over and back easily.

Yes that will work also

caddy16

After having my mind made up on going with the 450x I've had my head turned by reviews of the Ambrogio!

Does anyone know of any dealers in the west, midwest?

Tilikum17

caddy16 wrote: »

After having my mind made up on going with the 450x I've had my head turned by reviews of the Ambrogio!

Does anyone know of any dealers in the west, midwest?

There’s a lad in Galway on the Tuam Rd that’s does them. They install them too.

Stevie’s garden machinery.

http://steviesgardenmachinery.ie/

antomack

caddy16 wrote: »

After having my mind made up on going with the 450x I've had my head turned by reviews of the Ambrogio!

Does anyone know of any dealers in the west, midwest?

Hyland mowers in Ballinasloe does Ambrogio and Husq.
https://hylandsrobotmowers.ie/

Bedouin79

caddy16 wrote: »

After having my mind made up on going with the 450x I've had my head turned by reviews of the Ambrogio!

Does anyone know of any dealers in the west, midwest?

I’m the same boat, awaiting stock at the local dealer for an elite S+

caddy16

Bedouin79 wrote: »

I’m the same boat, awaiting stock at the local dealer for an elite S+

Same model as me. While both very similar I think the Ambrogio looks better equipped for slopes. Can't see any downside to it.

Shaunoc

maybe just an issue for me today,but whats appearing on my automower app is about 1.5 / 2 hours behind reality
stodgy AMC connect
still mowing away happily

just ordered the wheel brush kit as the summer is looking to stay wet and miserable, finding the wheels gathering more grass than normal. might be a week before kit arrives from UK site

Duke of Url

Garage and Tools arrived on the weekend for my Gardena Smart Sileno:pac:

krissovo

Shaunoc wrote: »

just ordered the wheel brush kit as the summer is looking to stay wet and miserable, finding the wheels gathering more grass than normal. might be a week before kit arrives from UK site

Tell me about it, I had paddling pools and waterparks up the last 2 weeks so didn't mow at all 2 of the zones. Now the garden looks like a disaster zone while trying to catch up with the cutting and clogging up the mower with soggy grass.

KCross

krissovo wrote: »

Tell me about it, I had paddling pools and waterparks up the last 2 weeks so didn't mow at all 2 of the zones. Now the garden looks like a disaster zone while trying to catch up with the cutting and clogging up the mower with soggy grass.

It is one of the big downsides of a robot.

If you pull it in or if it is in for repair/maintenance/servicing and the lawn is left uncut for a week or so it looks terrible for a few days while it tries to catchup. It needs to be left do its thing all the time.

In contrast a normal mower would just go out and be perfect after one cutting session.

Duke of Url

When is the best time to higher the blades going into Autumn?

Shaunoc

krissovo wrote: »

Tell me about it, I had paddling pools and waterparks up the last 2 weeks so didn't mow at all 2 of the zones. Now the garden looks like a disaster zone while trying to catch up with the cutting and clogging up the mower with soggy grass.

may be the case of having access to a push mower for those areas if you need to keep robot away.
i'm in a position at this stage, with just having to move away one small slide every other day. but takes seconds. i'm sure i'll have more lawn junk to contend with later

ArrBee

teamddr wrote: »

HI guys and girls
I took the plunge after a lot of research and have ordered one of these puppy's,
https://robotmower.ie/collections/wiper-premium/products/wiper-premium-c12

its the same machine as ambrigio l35 deluxe

bought it from local dealer and he coming to set it up

i have three different lawns and this one can be programmed to cross the drive late at night when traffic is non existent

Do you know any more about that "crossing the drive on a timer" feature?
I assume you still need the perimeter wire to form a path across?

ArrBee

Hi everyone.
I've been aware of this thread for a year or 2, thinking that I would be buying one once our landscaping was finished.

Turns out that the landscaping is taking way longer than expected, and the life of the ride on can't be stretched out any further without spending money I would rather put into a robot.

I've tried looking up reviews all over the place and still have a few burning questions about how they navigate.
More so the brands without a guide wire.

Is it only the husky's that have a guide wire??
I like the idea of the wiper/ambrogio (there is actually a 3rd brand that looks like it comes out of the same factory - can't remember the name now) as they seem well built but am concerned how it finds it's way home or between lawns.

So,
for models with no guide wire would a long thin paved path between lawns be an issue?
I figure I will probably need GPS to help with that.

also, When a model says "up to 8 separate zones" what does that mean, practically?
You'd still need a single boundary, right? so how are they separate zones?
can you configure different cutting schedules and heights or something, or are they genuinely separate zones with no shared perimeter ?

Cheers

Tilikum17

Just a question for the golfers in the thread, If you had the choice between a artificial putting green or a robot lawnmower....what would you pick?

krissovo

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Just a question for the golfers in the thread, If you had the choice between a artificial putting green or a robot lawnmower....what would you pick?

3rd world problems are getting tougher to resolve:D

For me I would not have time to practice putting if i didnt have the lawn mower (3hrs a cut) so I fear you have a chicken and egg situation. I sacrificed a new guitar for my mower.

Tilikum17

krissovo wrote: »

3rd world problems are getting tougher to resolve:D

For me I would not have time to practice putting if i didnt have the lawn mower (3hrs a cut) so I fear you have a chicken and egg situation. I sacrificed a new guitar for my mower.

They’d be the same price. But I could use the green all year round - only need to cut the grass in the summer. We’re doing up the house & this is my treat either way, if I don’t do it now, I’ll be saving for ages to do it again.

searay

Tilikum17 wrote: »

Just a question for the golfers in the thread, If you had the choice between a artificial putting green or a robot lawnmower....what would you pick?

I bought the mower and saved 1.5 hours a week, 40 Weeks a year and I believe it was the right call. It’s a 10 minute drive to the practice green/ driving range in my club so I’m wondering why my handicap hasn’t dropped??

Bungusbeefcake

ArrBee wrote: »

Hi everyone.
I've been aware of this thread for a year or 2, thinking that I would be buying one once our landscaping was finished.

Turns out that the landscaping is taking way longer than expected, and the life of the ride on can't be stretched out any further without spending money I would rather put into a robot.

I've tried looking up reviews all over the place and still have a few burning questions about how they navigate.
More so the brands without a guide wire.

Is it only the husky's that have a guide wire??
I like the idea of the wiper/ambrogio (there is actually a 3rd brand that looks like it comes out of the same factory - can't remember the name now) as they seem well built but am concerned how it finds it's way home or between lawns.

So,
for models with no guide wire would a long thin paved path between lawns be an issue?
I figure I will probably need GPS to help with that.

also, When a model says "up to 8 separate zones" what does that mean, practically?
You'd still need a single boundary, right? so how are they separate zones?
can you configure different cutting schedules and heights or something, or are they genuinely separate zones with no shared perimeter ?

Cheers

Hey, I'm in the middle of a self install for the Ambrogio 350i Elite. You're correct in so far as it doesn't have a guide wire, but it has other methods of self return. If the perimeter is less than 200m it recommends a return on perimeter setting, if it's over that then it recommends the quick return which involves setting up the perimeter wire with specific shapes to direct the robot back to the charger. Basically it's a V shape which tells the robot to travel in that direction to cut across the garden.

In mine I have a path across the driveway to a separate area and it should work. The way the areas work on the Ambrogio is that you tell the robot where along the wire that the section starts i.e. in mine area 2 will start before the path across the drive at 150m clockwise from the base station and end 225m clockwise from the base station. So in this way you can set up to 8 separate areas and the app will tell you how long it has been mowing those areas. When I go through the full setup I'll know more. You can find the manuals online if you want a read to find out more.
I know the 350i has GPS and tells me exactly where it is. So I assume it'll show me visually on the GPS what the coverage is like.
One further thing I like about it is that you can update the mower yourself through the app, so no need to ever bring it to a dealer for a service if you don't want to.

ArrBee

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

Hey, I'm in the middle of a self install for the Ambrogio 350i Elite. You're correct in so far as it doesn't have a guide wire, but it has other methods of self return. If the perimeter is less than 200m it recommends a return on perimeter setting, if it's over that then it recommends the quick return which involves setting up the perimeter wire with specific shapes to direct the robot back to the charger. Basically it's a V shape which tells the robot to travel in that direction to cut across the garden.

In mine I have a path across the driveway to a separate area and it should work. The way the areas work on the Ambrogio is that you tell the robot where along the wire that the section starts i.e. in mine area 2 will start before the path across the drive at 150m clockwise from the base station and end 225m clockwise from the base station. So in this way you can set up to 8 separate areas and the app will tell you how long it has been mowing those areas. When I go through the full setup I'll know more. You can find the manuals online if you want a read to find out more.
I know the 350i has GPS and tells me exactly where it is. So I assume it'll show me visually on the GPS what the coverage is like.
One further thing I like about it is that you can update the mower yourself through the app, so no need to ever bring it to a dealer for a service if you don't want to.

Thanks for that.
I'll be interested to hear more as you progress through the install and usage.

I did try looking up the manual for the L250i, but it probably raised more questions than answered!

I'd be interested to know if the shapes in the boundary wire impact the edge that the mower does our of it still seems it as a straight bit of wire...

Also very interesting that you can define zones based on perimeter location. Can you use different zones in any way other than collecting stats?

I don't suppose there is such a thing as a mower that can navigate along a path between lawns using GPS instead of any wires?
The boundary wire would get to the second area off the path and double back on itself in that scenario and prevent the need to mess with brand new paving already laid...

Bungusbeefcake

ArrBee wrote: »

Thanks for that.
I'll be interested to hear more as you progress through the install and usage.

I did try looking up the manual for the L250i, but it probably raised more questions than answered!

I'd be interested to know if the shapes in the boundary wire impact the edge that the mower does our of it still seems it as a straight bit of wire...

Also very interesting that you can define zones based on perimeter location. Can you use different zones in any way other than collecting stats?

I don't suppose there is such a thing as a mower that can navigate along a path between lawns using GPS instead of any wires?
The boundary wire would get to the second area off the path and double back on itself in that scenario and prevent the need to mess with brand new paving already laid...

I just went through the APP now and for the zone definition, what you do is to specify the area of the zone, the distance along the perimeter to reach the centre of the zone, how closely the robot need to follow the wire to get there (i.e. if the lawn complex and has obstacles and/or a narrow passageway to get there then follow on the wire (0cm distance from wire) or whatever you choose (25cm, 50cm or 100cm), whether the distance is clockwise or anti-clockwise and if you want eco mode on or off (senses if the grass needs to be cut or not and if not proceeds to the next programme).
The benefit of this seems to be that you can set what areas are done on what days. It shows you the percentage of each area as a percentage of the total available so you can set how long to spend in each on the daily schedule if you want.
When the mower is up and running then I believe it should tell you how long it has spent in each. Plus, on the 350i anyway, it has a satellite view showing the current position of the mower and I expect it'll show other things when it's running.

ArrBee

Bungusbeefcake wrote: »

I.... how closely the robot need to follow the wire to get there (i.e. if the lawn complex and has obstacles and/or a narrow passageway to get there then follow on the wire (0cm distance from wire) or whatever you choose (25cm, 50cm or 100cm), whether the distance is clockwise or anti-clockwise and if you want eco mode on or off (senses if the grass needs to be cut or not and if not proceeds to the next programme).
/QUOTE]


that part is very interesting to me.

I think I will still need to put perimeter wire through the patio slabs which will be a pain, but if I can define the patio as a zone that uses eco mode so the blades dont spin and it keeps in close the the wire, that could be alright.


Thanks a lot for your replies.

whippet

i've had a bit of nightmare with my boundary wire in the last couple of months ... i have a dog who has dug loads of holes and either broken the wire or exposed it and the automower snipped it.

When the mower snipped it - its an easy fix as the mower will stop dead beside it. But for other breaks it entails crawling around on hands and knees and trying to fine the breakage. But i've a good few fixes that I did initially where the cable wasn't insulated well after the fix (rookie errors) and my recent problems have been these fixes starting to corrode and loose signal.

I managed to do proper fixes where I know there were breakages before but there were so many I couldn't remember them all. I was just about to do a full cable install again .. but picked up this cable finder

Kolsol Cable Finder

it works an absolute treat ... picked up exactly where the loop was losing its signal .. took all of 5 minutes. So I am guessing i've about another two or three that might be left.

randombar

Anyone having issues with the worx mower since the last update?

getting a lot of "landroid lifted" errors where I hadn't before.

I see a reference to "Improvement on LIFT sensor " on the latest patch which has me wondering?

Thud

GaryCocs wrote: »

Anyone having issues with the worx mower since the last update?

getting a lot of "landroid lifted" errors where I hadn't before.

I see a reference to "Improvement on LIFT sensor " on the latest patch which has me wondering?

yes, I have been getting that a bit but when I go out to check on it, its back working.

there is a forum discussing it here:
https://www.roboter-forum.com/index.php?thread/46592-firmware-v3-16/&pageNo=30

randombar

Thud wrote: »

yes, I have been getting that a bit but when I go out to check on it, its back working.

there is a forum discussing it here:
https://www.roboter-forum.com/index.php?thread/46592-firmware-v3-16/&pageNo=30

Few people on the reddit forum saying similar. I've downgraded back a few hours ago, hasn't happened since but it's been charging a while.


Interesting upgrades they're doing too.

krissovo

GaryCocs wrote: »

Anyone having issues with the worx mower since the last update?

getting a lot of "landroid lifted" errors where I hadn't before.

I see a reference to "Improvement on LIFT sensor " on the latest patch which has me wondering?

I have a had one incident but he was stuck under a tree with low branches and impossible to lift so that was strange.

Mine has been much better on 3.16 than any of the last updates. I used to have lots of issues with crossing "off limits" but it's been just about perfect the last week.

dec2000

Our dog managed to find the 20cm of the low voltage cable that's exposed outside and nicked it with her teeth. Oddly I did a quick repair and confirmed 28v at the base but it wasn't powering it. Replaced out the cable and it's working again.

Problem now is I need to route it outside again, it's temporarily hanging out a window....I had our last cable routed out via side of a door when we replaced them, that is no longer an option so looking at needing to drill a hole and find a way across the path.

Anyone any tips for drilling the hole for the low voltage cable for husqvarna 430x? Seems silly to have to drill such a big hole for the connector when the cable is so small?

bigdawg

Apologies if this has been asked before. I did look through the thread but couldn't see too many references to it.

The questions refers to lifespan of these automowers before they need to be replaced. Forget maintenance and blade replacement and routine stuff but if you could just state the mower you bought and how long you had it before you had to replace it, that would be great. Or if you still own it, state the name of the machine and how long you've had it.

My concern would be shelling out €4-5k to buy and install and then having to do it all again in 5 years time.

Cheers all.