iRobot Definitely Developing Robot Lawn Mower, Astronomers Very Upset
We’ve been assuming for years now (years!) that sooner or later, iRobot would come out with a robotic lawn mower. The reason it’s been later and not sooner, we’re guessing, is that iRobot has been trying to figure out how to make a lawn mower that’s as easy to use as a Roomba, which could be impossible. Based on a recent FCC filing, it sounds like iRobot is working on a lawn mower that uses a wireless beacon system as opposed to an edge wire, which is a pretty cool idea. It’s too bad astronomers are doing their level best to kill the whole thing.
Since we’re a robotics blog, let’s first have a look at what iRobot is working on, before we delve into the drama that is iRobot versus radio astronomy.
Just about every single robotic lawn mower that currently exists (and there’s a bunch of them) requires you to first bury a loop of wire called an edge wire around the perimeter of your lawn to keep the robot contained. The robot senses the wire under the ground and won’t cross it. This is a pain in the butt to set up, and historically it’s not the sort of thing that iRobot wants to ask users of its robots to do.
More: iRobot Definitely Developing Robot Lawn Mower, Astronomers Very Upset - IEEE Spectrum