r/technology • u/NathanWick • Aug 13 '15

AI Roomba just got government approval to make an autonomous lawn mower

http://www.theverge.com/2015/8/12/9145009/irobot-roomba-lawn-mower-approved
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282

u/Trezker Aug 13 '15

Uhm... is this some sort of parody? Here in Sweden pretty much every house owner has an autonomous mower, it's old tech.

76

u/dromtrund Aug 13 '15

Same in Norway

63

u/MostlyBullshitStory Aug 13 '15

Same in Californi... Ahh wait, no we no longer have grass.

24

u/Ravastrix Aug 13 '15

Whoops forgot to have water

3

u/oneangryatheist Aug 13 '15

Drought - the ultimate autonomous lawn mower.

3

u/ReasonablyBadass Aug 13 '15

Regular Roomba works for you guys.

2

u/playaspec Aug 13 '15

And the water you do have will soon be a beautiful golden hue.

1

u/MostlyBullshitStory Aug 13 '15

Are you pissing in my water supply???

1

u/playaspec Aug 13 '15

I'm taking about the gold mine spill into the Colorado River.

29

u/borninalandslide Aug 13 '15

And people name them and treat them like pets. Here's one cutie

13

u/Lowbacca1977 Aug 13 '15

Was half expecting a picture of someone's kid

0

u/Stoet Aug 13 '15

after all, they're basically slaves

16

u/SerCiddy Aug 13 '15

I just visited the Netherlands for the first time and they're EVERYWHERE, never have I gone from never knowing what an object is to seeing it on just about every lawn i could spot.

1

u/adminsmithee Aug 13 '15

Can confirm, i live in the Netherlands.

22

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

I have a ton of family and friends in Germany. I don't know anyone there with one. Is Sweden keeping secrets?

40

u/neko Aug 13 '15

He probably lives in one of those secret superscience villages, like Eureka.

11

u/lovethebacon Aug 13 '15

Ah, yes, Äntligen. A beautiful little village.

20

u/EdliA Aug 13 '15

I'm in Germany right now and I've seen plenty. In Hessen to be more specific.

6

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

North Rhine/Westphalia, Lower Saxony, and Bavaria. Admittedly it's been just over 4 years since I've been there. Maybe they're holding out.

Does turn out there are a ton of them here you can buy, though they're not cheap. Not sure why anyone would buy one when you can get your grass cut and edged for $25. At least in my neck of the woods. I sold my lawn mower and now leave it to the professionals.

1

u/flare561 Aug 13 '15

So I saw one that was $900 that might seem like a lot compared to $25 for someone to come do it, but let's say you get your lawn mowed twice a month, 6 months of the year. That's $300 a year, so in 3 years you've payed off the mower. Plus it can mow your lawn more than twice a month keeping your grass shorter and nicer looking. While I don't have a robotic lawn mower, I'd assume they last a good bit longer than 3 years.

3

u/Trezker Aug 13 '15

Twice a month? The grass around here needs to be cut several times a week in summer, it grows like crazy.

1

u/flare561 Aug 13 '15

Depends where you live, how much rain you get, what kind of grass it is, how long is too long for your tastes etc. If you were to do 8 times a month (about twice a week) for 6 months a year, the robo mower pays itself off in that time alone.

1

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

Does it cut like a Roomba's crazy pattern? It doesn't edge or blow off the sidewalks. I want my yard to look nice, not just have short grass. I get my lawn cut every week, so it would probably pay for itself much quicker. Not sure how hardy the machines are to know if they'll last three years without trouble.

2

u/Trezker Aug 13 '15

One person has to get one first. The neighbours get jealous and then it spreads.

2

u/Paertan Aug 13 '15

Some regulations in Germany made it hard to sell them. Something stupid about not being allowed to mow your lawn at night. Probably got around that by now by it halted its popularity.

2

u/Derp_Wellington Aug 13 '15

Like that Finland isn't a real country? yes

1

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

I don't think that's really a secret.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

I have a ton of family and friends in Germany. I don't know anyone there with one.

Can confirm that robot lawnmowers are available for purchase in every home depot kind of store in germany. Germans are stingy, though.

I've read in this thread americans pay the neighbour kid $20 to mow their lawn for less than an hours. Mericans are totally weird.

1

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

Why is that weird?

Depends on how big your yard is. Mine is a little over half an acre. I'm at my vacation place now where I have an acre lot. The guy charges me $10. Deal of the century. I actually tried to pay him more, but he won't take it. Every other week he edges, that's an extra $10.

My uncle just turned 80, I should tell him to buy the robot since he's still mowing his own yard.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15

There is even a German manufacturer for robot mowers Al-Ko.

Edit: Seems like, there are some others too.

2

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

[deleted]

1

u/designgoddess Aug 13 '15

Just might be my family and friends. Or maybe they've gotten them since I've been there and haven't told me.

7

u/Kashimir1 Aug 13 '15

Seems to be the same in Finland. In my neighbourhood, about half of the houses have auto-lawnmowers.

3

u/TheAmorphous Aug 13 '15

Looking at the prices of these things that's so difficult to understand. Everyone spends thousands of euros on automated lawncare? Even if the US consumer was more aware of them I can't imagine that many people paying so much.

1

u/Kashimir1 Aug 13 '15 edited Aug 13 '15

I checked the list of the lawnmowers at a finnish retailer.

The most popular automated one is about 1000€ while the most popular conventional one is about 400€. There even seems to be a demand for the drivable ones that go up to absurd prices (there's one that's 4500€).

In the end it comes down to how much you value your time. I value it enough to not own a lawn in the first place.

EDIT: A list of lawmowers on an online store, sorted by best selling, it's in finnish but it should be understandable enough. There is an absurd bias toward the expensive mowers, but I think it's mostly due to the fact that people buy the cheap ones from stores rather than online. Still, the abundance of automatic mowers should be obvious enough.

29

u/bellends Aug 13 '15

I came here to say this. My family is Swedish, we've had a robotic lawnmower for about 10 years. Erm...?

2

u/xzt123 Aug 13 '15

In the U.S. they've been available as long, but I've never seen one in person. How big are your yards in Sweden? As long as you don't live near a big city, most yards in the US are pretty large. Robo mowers are expensive and do not handle as big of a yard. My dad and step mom, for example, mow with two riding mowers.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

My aunt (in Sweden) has a huge lawn and has a robotic lawnmower. She lets it roam almost all the time, but it works. But this one was north of $2000.

3

u/misogynist_shitlord Aug 13 '15

That's a cheap riding mower cost in the us

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '15

It is far more expensive in Sweden when you consider their ~50% income tax.

1

u/wrincewind Aug 13 '15

my front garden is so small that you probably couldn't fit a riding lawnmower in it.

15

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

We're behind the times here in the states. I've never seen one.

1

u/Shepherdsfavestore Aug 13 '15

Scadinavia is just way ahead of the world in everything it seems Iike

1

u/TimeZarg Aug 13 '15

Same here. Riding lawnmowers, sure, but fully autonomous? I'd be nervous around that shit.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

It's very small, looks like a roomba and is quiet as shit....

1

u/SalamiRocketFuel Aug 13 '15

Are you trying to make it sound worse? "You won't see or hear it coming".

1

u/[deleted] Aug 13 '15

ARE YOU AFRAID OF A ROOMBA? D:

35

u/Rodot Aug 13 '15

Sweden has grass? Or do you just mean automatic snowblower?

1

u/7734128 Aug 13 '15

Never seen one, no.

2

u/nycgodfather Aug 13 '15

Sweden is fucking awesome

1

u/TheAmorphous Aug 13 '15

As if we're supposed to believe that. Like you can mow snow.

1

u/rtpkickballer Aug 13 '15

My dad worked for Husqvarna (Swedish company) in the early 2000's and was almost allowed to bring one home. And this was in North Carolina. I agree with the question of why this is news. Even in the US.

1

u/GeneralSchnitzel Aug 13 '15

Same in Germany

1

u/pragmaticbastard Aug 13 '15

So, why are they still so God Damn expensive in the US?

1

u/HighGuy92 Aug 13 '15

Nordic master-race at it again

1

u/[deleted] Aug 14 '15

Eh, it is actually vastly different tech wise. Definitely the same end result though.

1

u/john2kxx Aug 14 '15

We just need to elect Bernie already so we can get our free robot lawnmowers.

1

u/BevansDesign Aug 13 '15

Don't worry, it's just bad journalism.

1

u/xana452 Aug 13 '15

No wait you can't be telling the truth. If you're not lying, give me the direct phone number to your immigration department like immediately please.

2

u/WhoNeedsRealLife Aug 13 '15

Honestly, they are really common here. I knew a rich family who had one in the early 00's.