As someone who is still mowing the goddamn lawn, here in October, this holds tremendous appeal: Honda has developed a self-driving mower.
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The Autonomous Work Mower looks like any other zero-turn, and is in fact meant to accommodate a human driver—for the first pass. “When manually operated, the Honda AWM learns the mowing routes and patterns set by the operator,” the company explains. “In autonomous operation, the AWM reproduces these routes and patterns, which can free up workers’ time to focus on more high-value tasks.” And in autonomous mode, obstacle-detection technology means it won’t run into you or the kids.
Here’s a demo:
The fact that it’s electric is amazing—no more busted fuel pumps or rotted lines, no more replacing spark plugs, no more picking up gas, no fumes, no noise.
Honda field-tested their prototype with a U.S. commercial landscape company this past summer; they’re currently seeking more companies to participate in a pilot program for next year.
Source: core77