Honda's prototype electric riding mower can learn to cut autonomously

[Shawn Knight]

TL;DR: Robotic lawn mowers have been around for years, but you probably have not seen one quite like Honda's latest. The Honda Autonomous Work Mower (AWM) is an all-electric, zero-turn riding mower with a twist. Under normal operation, it can be run by a human just like any other riding mower. While in manual mode, the machine learns mowing routes and patterns used by the operator so when you switch over to autonomous mode, it can reproduce the routes and patterns, and free up time to work on other tasks.

The AWM is designed for lawn care and landscape companies to help address labor shortages and sustainability goals, Honda said. The mower is capable of learning entire worksites, and the operator can create different route maps for multiple sites, which are saved to a secure cloud server.

Honda's mower uses GNSS (global navigation satellite system) for location recognition, and features a traction control system to maintain straight lines on hills and rough terrain. Omnidirectional sensing as well as radar and LiDAR sensors help with obstacle detection, and the speed-linked blade motor controller can automatically reduce blade rotation at low speeds to conserve battery life. Under high loads, the AWM can slow its travel speed to avoid clogging or not fully cutting the grass.

Earlier this year, Honda conducted a field test with a top US landscape company and plans to roll out a pilot program for others to participate in starting in 2024.

A mower of this caliber certainly isn't for everyone, but it is a nice alternative to "traditional" robot mowers that are hardly any larger than indoor robotic vacuums. Efficiency is paramount in the landscaping industry, and the ability to have workers focus on more high-value tasks while the mower is cutting the grass would no doubt be of benefit.

Honda didn't mention potential pricing or battery life. Considering they still want to perform at least one additional pilot program, the AWM is likely a couple of years away from general availability.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/100432-honda-prototype-electric-riding-mower-can-learn-cut.html

 

[GeorgeTheNerd]

There are significant design differences between a human controlled mower and a robot mower.

Human mower - need to minimize time which means high power, high mass, large blades mowing large sections of grass at a time. Such things are dangerous, but you can have a human making judgement calls throughout the process.

Robot mower - stuck with a computer chip that struggles with judgement, so you need to make the mass, energy, and size of the blades small so an error has minimal consequence. Most robot mowers use blades no bigger in size or mass than what is used for a safety razor. Downside is only tiny amounts of grass can be mowed at one time, but its a robot, it can stay out on the lawn and slowly work the problem for most of the day, day after day.

IDK how you find the middle ground. Being horribly time wasteful during the training (both standard route and dealing with a huge amount of edge cases). Being horribly unsafe with a computer moving massive blades at high speed toward pedestrians. Or being something in-between that is bad at both.

I'm skeptical.

 

[mbk34]

I just wonder how long we'll have to wait before Ukraine has these causing mayhem behind the Russian front lines

 

[VitalyT]

So a monkey can do it. And they do.

 

[amghwk]

If humans let machine do everything, then what is the need for humans to be alive? Let the machines run the whole world, and humans lie down and do... what? Make more machines?

Reminds me of the humans in Wall-E.

 

[NicktheWVAHick]

I hope there is a mechanism built-in that kills the engine and renders it useless if commandeered by an unauthorized user. Otherwise I see a great potential for theft from someone who has a really big yard and went inside to watch football, when it would be most likely used.

 

[Uncle Al]

There are other types on the market place that seem to have good ratings .... we'll just have to take a wait and see approach on this one.

 

[Dimitrios]

Steven Kings, THE MOWER. Starring Mark Wahlberg."Tell your weed wacker I said hello."

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I hope there is a mechanism built-in that kills the engine and renders it useless if commandeered by an unauthorized user. Otherwise I see a great potential for theft from someone who has a really big yard and went inside to watch football, when it would be most likely used.

I highly doubt the kind of person who has a big yard and can afford one of these lives in an inner city with high crime rates. They likely live in a quiet community where law enforcement still does their job and crime is low.