Check Out The First Autonomous Lawnmower From iRobot In Action

‘Roomba’ is the name of the extremely popular house cleaning robot that’s been well-loved by consumers for almost a decade now. In fact, the robot was so popular that the name ‘Roomba’ became an umbrella term to describe all robot vacuum cleaners altogether.

iRobot - the company behind the tiny machine is trying to move onto greener pastures. They have already had a robotic vacuum cleaner, floor mopper, and swimming pool cleaner. The next thing on the company’s checklist is an automatic lawnmower.

Terra the Lawnmower

The lawnmower robot named: ‘Terra’ was unveiled by iRobot on Wednesday. The company stated that the new robot’s design has been significantly improved in comparison to older robots. Many design flaws and pitfalls of earlier models are fixed in Terra, promising higher reliability and efficiency.

The iRobot's autonomous lawnmower in action

The robot could be unleashed onto the market and made a presence on your lawn as soon as this year’s summer.

Selling Feature: Memory Map

Terra is not the first one in the category, but it is an improvement on the current options out there, according to the press release of iRobot.

The key feature behind Terra that iRobot is particularly proud of is its ability to create a memory map of the owner’s lawn. Robotic lawn mowers available today rely on expensive boundary wires to find their ways around the lawn. These wires serve as markers for the robots to know the area of the lawn that needs cutting. Terra does it differently. Instead of setting up boundary wires, the owner will be provided with some wireless beacons to spread around the lawn. Then, you will be instructed to manually lead Terra around the perimeter of your lawn once. Terra will record the entire process and create a virtual map that tells it exactly the limits of the lawn and where it should go, negating the needs for boundary lines entirely.

Sensors are packed full into Terra for it to know not only where it’s going, but to also avoid getting into troubles while at it. It is capable of autonomously avoid obstacles and debris. And the robot is smartly designed so that when it realized the battery is running low, it’d automatically return to its charging dock to not be stranded in the middle of the yard.

Launch Date & Availability

The sale schedule released by the company has Germany being the first market to have Terra available to them in 2019. A beta (Testing) programme will also be launched in the U.S. not too far behind.

Focusing on automated lawn mowers alone, a ‘bottom line’ robot can cost up to $600 while the top of the line can cost $3,500. That’s not a price point that’s accessible to many, or a price point that many are willing to take. That’s why even though Terra and its kinds can promise a lot less work, there shouldn’t be any expectations that it’d sell well.

It is indeed cheaper to just hire kids in your neighborhood to mow your lawn and I’m sure their quick service cannot cost you $600 in one go.