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I’m in a park. The grass is being mown by a robot.
(lemmy.world)
We thought the rider fell off or something and it was going to crash. Then it turned and kept mowing. Park Roomba!
Another picture:
You in the US?
Robot lawn mowers are very common in Europe. You'll see these small electric mowers in people's yards all over the place. Businesses also have them running all day out front. Never seen one in the US.
They are equipped with GPS, so they are locked to a specific area to prevent theft.
I saw this for the first time in Brussels! Our Airbnb host got a kick over how enthralled 3 American women were over the idea of a lawn roomba 😂.
I am in the U.S., yes.
GPS are very fancy ones, unless that's changed since I last looked into it. A buried wire, "invisible fence", has been the norm for all consumer grade ones I've seen.
That's the style we have as well. In addition to the wire it also detects if it bumps into walls.
The ones I have seen are GPS locked and they automatically "return home" to the charger when rain drops are detected.
I think the wire ones usually do too. When they're out of power and possibly if it rains, they go straight until they reach the wire, and then follow it home to dock.
Yes, I believe the GPS ones are also guided by a wire to find edges and find their way home. The GPS is mostly for theft prevention. Won't work outside a specific area unless it's unlocked from the backend.
Probably don't use them here in the US because they're afraid people will use them for target practice.