Should you let a robot mow your lawn?
Summary
Jennifer Patterson-Tui and guest Brandon Doyle review the latest robot lawnmowers, discussing improved navigation via LiDAR and NetRTK, better traction, and object avoidance. They share testing experiences with models from MAMotion, Ecovacs, and Navimow, weighing pros like lawn health against cons like subscription costs and getting stuck. The episode also covers news on Apple’s iPhone 18 delays, Flock surveillance safeguards, and a Petlibro outage.
Topics discussed
Intro: Robot lawnmower testing and guest introduction
90 Seconds on The Verge: iPhone 18, Flock surveillance, Petlibro outage
Sponsors: Benjamin Franklin Plumbing and Toyota
Evolution of robot mowers: From fiddly to 95% effective
Navigation tech: Boundary wires, RTK, LiDAR, and NetRTK subscriptions
Obstacle avoidance and handling pets and chickens
Terrain challenges: Sandy soil, slopes, and wheel types
FCC ban on robotic mowers and safety concerns
Lawn health improvements and creating grass stripes/doodles
Sponsors: Horizon 3, DeepGram, IBM Quantum, Benjamin Franklin Plumbing
Trimming capabilities and stories of mowers getting stuck
Top picks: MAMotion, Ecovacs, Dreamy, Navimow, and budget options
Gate opening tech, future robotics, and guest outro
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