So I’ve seen posts about sprinkler systems and gardens, but what about robot lawn mowers? I mean we’re automating how we make things grow, but what about how we keep things neat? I don’t own a robot lawn mower, but I am seriously considering one. It would be nice to have the mower know when it’s raining or the sprinkler system is on so it doesn’t go out and cut during this time frame. Plus, wouldn’t it be cool to have your garage door open for your mower when it decides it’s time to have your lawn cut and then close the door when it’s out or done? (Close it after it leaves for security reasons obviously. If somethings going to get stollen, I would prefer it be just the mower and not the entire garage.)
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Interesting idea! Though my brain keeps heading straight to the horror movie plot of the robot lawn mower run amok… 
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There is also www.lawnbotts.com and www.robomow.com.
The possibilities are pretty much amazing when you start thinking about it…
How about Robowow:
I own a Husqvarna Automower (which is totally awesome by the way). Some of the newer versions you can control via an app but I believe it runs on Bluetooth - so not possible to steer remotely. I have however seen some interesting hacks to receive status (cutting, charging, idle, disconnected) via a simple z-wave metering switch by looking at the watt consumption and defining specific intervals for the 4 different statuses e.g. 75-100 W = cutting, 100+ W = charging, 1-75 W = idle, 0 W = disconnected. You could also “steer” the robot by simply turning the switch on/off - switch off = no signal in the ground cable and the robot will stop where it is.
I have a Bosch Indigo Connect 1K which has a softsim in it and communicated via Bosch’s cloud platform.
It’s a pretty nifty mower, and the App displays a map of your lawn after it has learned about it with the position of the mower, charge status etc.
I have done a little packet sniffing on the comms between the App and the Bosch cloud platform and have a good idea of what is going on. I don’t believe it is a massive piece of work to build an abstraction layer to allow ST to control and receive status from it.
My review of the mower can be found here if you want more details: https://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R3A3RP506NBA7T
Thanks,
Matt
I’ve been dreaming about getting one of these, but holy BUJEEZUS they are expensive!
I use a Husqvarna Automower 450X, which is web enabled and connected via onboard cellular radio. I don’t know of a public API but some work has been done to determine web request commands from their Android app. It would be nice if these could be actuated via CoRE. Lots of potential here but for me I would like to be able to park the mower when a thunderstorm is iminnent, cut the power after it has parked and resume after the storm clears the area. This could likely be done using CoRe and IFTTT Maker but it’s beyond my skills. I found some Comands here: https://github.com/chrisz/pyhusmow
Wow these things are awesome and the geek in me wants one of these so bad. My issue is I have an absolutely killer deal with a local landscaping company who I pay about $350 a season to cut my 0.3 acre yard. At that rate the cost of the unit plus installation it would take me almost 7 years to break even on one of these. And this thing still wouldn’t do the trimming around rocks, fences, deck posts, etc. which the landscapers do.
If they ever jack my rates up this is something I’ll definitely have to look into.
says it’s weatherproof. I’d let it mow anytime - or ONLY when it rains… good feature.
It is weather proof and it does its best work in the rain. The issue is thunderstorms. The installation requires a ground loop (wire) around the perimeter of the yard that is powered by the charging station. This wire system provides a signal that lets the mower know when it is near a boundary and provides various other control functions. Manufacturers strongly recommend that the ground loop be disconnected from the charging station when there is a threat for lightning since it could send damaging current into the system if it were struck. Of course that’s easier said than done, especially in parts of the country where storms can quickly form without much warning.
Husqvarna does incorporate a feature (Eco mode) that will disconnect the ground loop when the mower is parked in the charger. While lightning protection isn’t the intent of this feature, it is the next best thing to disconnecting the wires at the charging station.
Without lighting protection designed into the systems, it’s a case where doing something is better than doing nothing. I am sure that as these mowers become more popular a nifty solution will be devised.
Out of curiosity, why do they work better in the rain?
Probably appearance more than anything else but it’s not that significant. The cut is certainly as good wet as dry. Not always the case with traditional mowers.
I know I’m reviving an old conversation, but this topic is starting to fascinate me. I just put in a new backyard lawn (from seed) along with an in ground irrigation system. I would love to get a robot lawn mower. It can cut at night, so aside from a weekly edging you have a perfect lawn virtually all the time with no fuss at all…
But it’s one of those things that I’m not sure need be connected to SmartThings. It knows to not cut when there’s rain. You schedule it on its own, and it works autonomously. Connecting it to ST might unnecessarily complicate things.
But… if you were to connect it, what would you have in the integration?
- Open the garage door to let it out.
- close the garage door while its mowing.
- open the garage door to let it in when its done.
- close the garage door once its docked.
I’d also randomize the days and times the lawn was mowed unattended
This would help minimize the chance of theft of both the lawn mower and items in the garage/house.
Hmmm. They work using a perimeter signal wire to keep them in the yard. You’d have to have that wire come into your garage. That aside, the idea is cool.
In my use case the mower would be in the backyard, and if I had it come out front that would occur at night.
In my case, I have a overhead garage door on the side of my garage I use for getting my lawn tractor in and out. It’s grass right up to the door, so I would have the wire all of the way to the garage. I know most people may not have that.
Anybody know how to integrate this WLAN-modul - Automower / Gardena to Smartthings?
https://robomaeher.de/blog/wlan-modul-automowergardena/#Inbetriebnahme
Just learned today that the Automower now has an IFTTT channel for basic functionality. Also read that an open API is coming. Hope we have a true integration soon.