I agree, Nadine. The beauty of solar power here is that on rainy days -- when the solar power would be weak -- you wouldn't be mowing your lawn anyway. You're right about the cost making this a tool only for very large lawns. But if this catches on, we'll see competition and the price will come down.
I'm waiting for the Lawn Mowing software update for ASIMO. Then he can push my existing mower around. In the meantime I'll be reloading some 12 gauge with rock salt for the security system.
There is a certain coolness factor in owning a lawn mowing robot. Certainly, you could program it to chase the cats and dogs off your property for obvious reasons.
You didn't read the part where, as soon as it leaves the ground it shuts down and cannot be re-started without a PIN entry? Just like the fancy car radios which are no longer being stolen because they self-disable when removed from the dash.
Astroturf is green all year round. No maintenance. No need for $2600 robot mower. You don't have to hear whining from your kid because you will never ask (tell) him or her to mow or weed. The city water conservationists will be happy as well. How can you top that?
roThe article says that the robot works by a 'perimeter wire', which I take to mean that you will be implanting a wire in the ground around the area you want to be mowed, so your tulips are safe (unless you want them gone). This gives rise to the question, what about small circular flower areas within a lawn? Can you put a perimeter wire around the whole area and then around every area with flowers within the large perimeter? At which point will this little toe-clippiing machine get confused?
I saw this article about the Miimo, and it says the price point is about $2600.00. With a price like that, it will be a while before we see neighborhoods transformed by roving bands of robotic mowers. From a liability standpoint, it's probably okay for the back yard, but leaving something like this running around unattended in the front yard is just asking for trouble. I'll stick my my traditional mower.
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For industrial control applications, or even a simple assembly line, that machine can go almost 24/7 without a break. But what happens when the task is a little more complex? That’s where the “smart” machine would come in. The smart machine is one that has some simple (or complex in some cases) processing capability to be able to adapt to changing conditions. Such machines are suited for a host of applications, including automotive, aerospace, defense, medical, computers and electronics, telecommunications, consumer goods, and so on. This radio show will show what’s possible with smart machines, and what tradeoffs need to be made to implement such a solution.
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