How's this for a very intricate Navimow mowing map?
The lawns around eight houses in this retirement village are all being mowed by one H3000A-VF.
Navimow's multiple navigation systems combine to provide very precise positioning. They enable Navimow to accurately trace its path along incredibly intricate boundaries, and to do so repeatedly and reliably.
By combining the industry-leading AI Camera intelligence with satellite positioning and on-board sensors (wheel rotation rate, compass direction and tilt angle) called Real Time Kinetics (RTK), Navimow can work in tighter, more complex environments than other robotic lawn mowers.
Most importantly, if the numbers of satellites visible overhead become reduce or reception becomes weakened, Navimow can rely on its camera and other sensors to keep operating safely.
This makes Segway's Navimow a fantastic, very capable solution for villages like this one.
Before we got the contract to supply and deliver our system, we duked it out in a head-to-head trial against another brand of wireless robotic mower. For two months Navimow worked a complex section of lawn while our competitor did the same. Navimow never once lost reception and stopped, even when mowing down between long rows of one storey villas with houses on either side and trees planted between. The competitor brand didn't fare nearly as well, as might be expected from a mower without an AI camera incorporated as a key part of its navigation system. The other brand of mower often stopped in the shadow of villas, under their eves, and under trees. It would then 'time out' after failing to reconnect to satellites within a short period, thus requiring a visit by a human to find out what happened then manually restart the mower. This happened on many occasions — clearly this was not the solution the village operator was looking for.
Navimow, on the other hand, performed admirably throughout the ~10 week trial. Groundsmen told us they through Navimow delivered a superior cut as well.
Our brief was to deploy a fleet that could mow more than 80% of the village lawns, preferably without crossing any roads. In practice, with a fleet of 12 Navimow units of various capacities we've hit 90% coverage. Eleven of these dozen mowers look after the lawns of groups or clusters of villas. They do cross the occasional internal footpath, but never any roads.
Due to the design of the village layout, and the desire to keep the fleet size at 12 mowers, only one mower has been mapped to make a couple of road crossings. These can be seen in the map above before it was overlayed onto the satellite map. The crossings are done at the ends of dead-end streets, ensuring minimal likelihood of interactions with motor vehicles (and we have VisionFence to ensure collisions don't occur).
Here's another overlayed mowing map. This shows how a mower is taking care of the lawns in another part of the village. Notice how village layouts of this type of design require a robot mower to undertake a lot of turning movements. This is because these types of layouts involve a lot of narrow passageways and a high number of turns. Again, this is an environment where Navimow shines over one of the other brands of robot mowers being sold in New Zealand. Navimow features two castor wheels: these are on the front of the Navimow H-series, with the driving wheels behind. This design minimises damage to the turf, reducing scuffing during turning manoeuvres at the end of every run. There is another brand of mower that uses different kinds of wheels in the front that do cause noticeable turf damage from repeated turns. Navimow is also narrower, meaning it can navigate narrower passages and tighter spaces without getting stuck or causing damage to objects.
Navimow has become a proven performer across New Zealand during the autumn and winter of 2024, equally at home on domestic lawns and in commercial applications. Spring officially arrives in just two weeks time — so its time to find out more and get yourself a Navimow before the grass really starts to grow. Buy now at our new website.
