Robot mowers
A robot mower cuts a little every day instead of a lot once a week. It docks itself, charges, and goes back out. Whether it copes with your yard depends mostly on how it navigates and what the terrain asks of it.
How they know where the lawn ends
Every robot mower needs a way to tell lawn from flower bed, driveway and the neighbor’s yard. There are three main approaches, and many current models combine two of them.
Boundary wire
A thin wire pegged around the edge of the lawn and around anything to avoid, connected to the base station. The mower senses the wire’s signal and turns back. It is the oldest method and it works without satellites or cameras, but you have to lay the wire, and moving a bed later means moving the wire. Husqvarna’s 410 iQ, for example, supports both a physical wire and virtual boundaries.
RTK satellite positioning
RTK (real-time kinematic) GNSS corrects ordinary satellite positioning down to roughly centimeter accuracy, so the boundary can be a line you draw or drive in an app. Some systems use a reference antenna you install in the yard. Others get corrections over the cellular network instead, which Navimow, Mammotion and Worx describe as network or cloud RTK. Satellite positioning needs a clear view of the sky, so heavy tree cover and tall walls can weaken it. That is why makers pair RTK with cameras.
Cameras and LiDAR
Vision models use cameras to recognize grass and obstacles; LiDAR models measure distance with a spinning or solid-state laser sensor and build a map. Toro’s Haven series is vision-based. Mammotion’s YUKA mini 2 uses LiDAR with cameras and no RTK at all. These don’t depend on open sky, though lighting and very cluttered edges can still trip them up.
Read the wire-free vs boundary wire guide for help choosing between them.
What a robot mower needs from your yard
- A spot for the base station
- Fairly level ground at the lawn’s edge, near an outdoor outlet, with clear space in front so the mower can dock. Greenworks’ setup notes for the C40 ask for a flat area for the charging station.
- Enough coverage for your lawn
- Makers rate each model for an area, often with a margin: Husqvarna lists lawn size “±20%”. Yards with lots of edges and obstacles take longer to cover than an open rectangle of the same size, so leave headroom.
- Slopes it can climb
- Slope limits are given in percent and degrees. A 45% slope rises 45 feet over 100 feet of ground, about 24°. Current models in our table range from 30% to 84%. Some makers list a lower limit near the boundary; Husqvarna’s 410 iQ handles 45% inside the area but 15% at the edge.
- Room to get through
- Side gates and paths between beds need to be wider than the mower. Ecovacs lists a minimum passage width of 2.62 ft for the GOAT A3000 LiDAR. Measure your narrowest gap before you choose.
- A plan for rain
- Makers handle wet weather differently. Some list a rain sensor that pauses mowing, as Greenworks does for the C40; Husqvarna says its iQ mowers work “rain or shine”. Check the water rating (IPX4 to IP66 in our table) and the manual’s advice on wet grass.
- A signal, sometimes
- App control usually runs over Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or a built-in 4G connection. Network RTK models need cellular coverage at the lawn. Navimow and Worx let you check RTK coverage for your address on their sites.
Maintenance
Robot mowers use small pivoting razor blades or blade discs instead of one big blade. The blades dull and need replacing on a schedule; Husqvarna, for instance, includes a year of replacement blades with its iQ mowers. Beyond blades, expect to:
- Brush clippings off the underside and wheels now and then. Water ratings vary (IPX4 to IP66 in our table), so follow the manual on whether a hose is fine.
- Keep the charging contacts on the mower and the station clean.
- Install firmware updates through the app; makers use them to fix bugs and adjust navigation.
- Walk the lawn after storms for branches, and pick up toys and dog bones before scheduled runs.
- Bring the mower in for winter. See the winter storage guide.
Theft and safety features
A mower that lives outside needs some protection. The features makers list on the pages we checked include:
- PIN codes and account locks. Greenworks lists pin-code anti-theft on the C40; its FAQ says a mower linked to your account can’t be used by anyone else.
- Alarms and tracking. Husqvarna lists an anti-theft alarm and GPS location in its app. Navimow says the i2 AWD alerts you if it’s moved or lifted.
- Cellular connection. Navimow, Mammotion, Dreame and Greenworks list 4G on some models, which keeps tracking working beyond Wi-Fi range.
- Sensors that stop the blades. Ecovacs lists lift, collision and rain sensors on the GOAT O1000 LiDAR PRO. Camera and LiDAR models also try to steer around obstacles.
Keep children and pets off the lawn while the mower runs, and consider a daytime-only schedule if small animals visit your yard at night. Obstacle detection can miss small or low things.
Current models, from the makers’ own pages
Sorted alphabetically by maker; the order says nothing about quality. Each row links the page we read; a dash means the page didn’t state it. Specs change, so check the maker’s page before buying.
| Model | How it navigates | Rated area | Max slope | Cut width | Cut height | Also listed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DreameA3 AWD (1000 / 2000) | 360° 3D LiDAR + binocular AI vision; wire-free | 0.25 / 0.50 acre | 80% (38.7°) | 7.9 in | 1.2–3.9 in | 4G connectivity | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| DreameA3 AWD Pro (2500 / 3500 / 5000) | 360° 3D LiDAR + binocular AI vision; wire-free | 2,500 / 3,500 / 5,000 m² (0.62 / 0.87 / 1.20 acre) | 80% (38.7°) | 15.8 in (40 cm) | 1.2–3.9 in (3–10 cm) | 4G connectivity | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| EcovacsGOAT A3000 LiDAR | Dual LiDAR + camera; wire-free | 3/4 acre | 50% (27°) | 12.99 in | 1.2–3.6 in | Mower IPX6; narrow passages down to 2.62 ft | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| EcovacsGOAT O1000 LiDAR PRO | Multiline LiDAR; wire-free | — | 45% (24°); 17% at a virtual boundary | 8.66 in, plus a 7.09 in edge trimmer | 1.18–3.15 in | Rain sensor; mower and station IPX6 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| GreenworksAiMowbot C40 | Wire-free RTK with vision (RTKVision) | 1 acre (one spec table on the same page says 0.5 acre) | 45% (24°) | 12 in | ¾–4 in | Rain sensor pauses mowing; PIN-code anti-theft; IPX6 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| HusqvarnaAutomower 410 iQ | Virtual boundaries with EPOS satellite positioning (via Husqvarna Cloud in select locations), or a physical boundary wire | 0.5 acre (lawn size ±20%) | 45% inside the area, 15% at the boundary | 9.4 in | 1–4 in | Anti-theft alarm and GPS tracking in the app; IPX5 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| HusqvarnaAutomower 435 iQ AWD | Virtual boundaries with EPOS satellite positioning (via Husqvarna Cloud in select locations), or a physical boundary wire | 1.3 acre (lawn size ±20%) | 70% inside the area, 50% at the boundary | 8.7 in | 1.2–2.8 in | Anti-theft alarm and GPS tracking in the app; IPX4 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| MammotionLUBA 3 AWD (1500 / 3000 / 5000) | 360° LiDAR + network RTK + dual-camera AI vision; the 1500 uses LiDAR and vision without RTK | 0.37 / 0.75 / 1.25 acres | 80% (38.6°) | 15.7 in (400 mm) | 1.0–2.7 in standard; 2.2–4.0 in "H" versions | Built-in 4G with live video of the yard | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| MammotionYUKA mini 2 1000H | 360° LiDAR with dual-camera AI vision; no RTK, no wire | 0.25 acre | 45% (24°) | 7.5 in | 2.0–3.5 in | — | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| Segway Navimowi2 AWD (i206 / i210) | Network RTK fused with vision; wire-free | 0.15 acre (i206) / 0.25 acre (i210) | 45% (24°) | — | — | Anti-theft alert if moved or lifted, live location; IP66 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| Segway NavimowX4 series (X430 / X450) | Tri-frequency RTK with 360° AI vision; wire-free | 1.0 acre (X430) / 1.5 acres (X450) | 84% (40°) | 17 in | 0.75–4 in | 4G with out-of-boundary alerts and GPS tracking; IP66 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| ToroHaven VM75 / VM125 | Vision-based boundary and navigation | Up to 3/4 acre (VM75) / up to 1 1/4 acre (VM125) | 47% (25°) | 10 in | 0.75–3.25 in | IPX6 | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
| WorxLandroid Vision Cloud ½ Acre | RTK Cloud positioning with stereo camera (V-SLAM); no on-site antenna | 0.5 acre recommended | 30% (17°) | 8.7 in | 1.57–3.54 in | Runs on the Worx PowerShare battery | Maker page checked Oct 26, 2026 |
Makers not in the table
- EGO. Its US robotic-mower page returned "not found" when we checked, so we could not read current specs from the maker.
- Stihl (iMOW). The robotic-mower page on Stihl USA returned "not found" when we checked.
- Gardena. Gardena’s US site lists robotic mowers in its store, but we did not verify individual model pages in this pass.