| You’re standing in your front yard | | | | easily disabled. The tilt detection devices |
| minding your own business when a robot with | | | | are soldered on to the main boards. Even the |
| three razor sharp blades spinning at 5,800 | | | | resistance against the blades and the ability |
| rpm starts racing toward you. What do you do? | | | | of the software to stop them is measured in |
| | | | thousandths of seconds. |
| | | | |
| Is this some kind of nightmare? No, | | | | Since these robotic lawn mowers are designed |
| you’re awake and this is really | | | | to mulch there is no easy outlet for flying |
| happening, so once again, what do you do? | | | | debris. Pebbles and pine cones do not get |
| | | | tossed very far and at low velocity. |
| The answer is nothing. It will just bounce | | | | |
| off you and go another direction. Rather | | | | Some robotic lawn mowers have sonar |
| anti-climatic ending wasn’t it? That | | | | detection systems that if any moving objects |
| is just the way the robotic lawn mower | | | | get close they’ll slow down and at |
| companies want it to be. | | | | another point stop the blade before even |
| | | | being touched. All have some sort of touch |
| The greatest concern most people have about | | | | sensors that when they lightly bump into a |
| robotic lawn mowers is safety. ‘Bots | | | | stationary object that they change direction. |
| with Blades’ just can’t be | | | | So actually getting run over is unlikely. |
| safe. According to Ames Tiedeman, National | | | | |
| Sales Manager for Systems Trading Corp., the | | | | Another big concern is pets getting chopped |
| US distributor for the Friendly Robotics | | | | to bits, again, no reported accidents |
| Robomower, over 72,000 emergency room visits | | | | involving robotic lawn mowers. Dogs have a |
| involved lawn mowers in 2005. ZERO involved | | | | tendency to chase and bark, but not attack. |
| robotic lawn mowers. | | | | A dog actually chewing up a robotic lawn |
| | | | mower is more feasible than a robotic lawn |
| These mowers have so many safety features | | | | mower chewing up a dog. |
| and shut-off triggers that it is amazing that | | | | |
| they are actually functional. | | | | Robotic lawn mowers move relatively slow, |
| | | | people and animals can easily move out of the |
| The Friendly Robotics Robomower turns the | | | | way. Although it takes a lot longer to mow, |
| blades off at 16 degrees, not even high | | | | if everyone used them there would be 72,000 |
| enough to get a hand under. Even if a small | | | | fewer hospital visits this year. |
| hand could get under, the blades are far back | | | | |
| and recessed into a chamber in the body. It | | | | This article was written to educate people |
| would take creativity, not stupidity, to get | | | | that robotic mowers under intended |
| to the blades while they are still turning. | | | | circumstances are safe. There has been a |
| | | | great deal of thought and engineering |
| Unlike push and riding lawn mower safety | | | | involved to make robotic lawn mowers safe for |
| devices, robotic lawn mower features are not | | | | public use. |