I'm already saving up for a mower like this. The neighbor will turn green with envy
Is it possible to have a beautiful lawn and not get into trouble? Yet how!
I saw the latest Stiga autonomous mowers in action. 5 new models, equipped with GPS and LTE connectivity, hit the golf course. By introducing them, Stiga covers the needs of various customers. The smallest Stiga A500 model will work well around the house and on the plot (up to 500 m2). Stiga A10000 (up to 10,000 m2) and can easily work on a training football pitch or an American football pitch, and several such robots, working as a team, can take care of a golf course.
Of course, apart from the A series models that use GPS and LTE connectivity for positioning in the garden, there are still models that use the boundary wire. When using such a mower, you must ensure that the lawn is surrounded by a cable connected to the docking station (the cable is attached to the ground using special pegs).
A “corded” mower will treat the electromagnetic field of the wire as a “fence” and will not exceed the designated limit. These mowing robots are cheaper, but the first start-up will take longer than one with GPS. If a new flowerbed appears on the lawn, the cable arrangement will also have to be modified, and a cable break will immobilize the mower.
How does GPS and LTE work in the Stiga mower?
Mowing robots work with the new STIGA GO mobile application. The first start-up of a mowing robot from an autonomous series requires, of course, finding a place for its docking station and pairing the device with a smartphone via Bluetooth. If the station will not have a “view” of the sky, the GPS receiver should be placed higher – for example, on a post, on a house chimney, on the roof of a shed, etc. The receiver must be placed horizontally and rigidly. If it moves in the wind, the robot may get lost on the lawn.
In the next stage, you need to walk around the lawn, manually controlling the robot from your smartphone. Here it will allow you to define the boundaries of the mowing area. Of course, you can place “islands” on it to avoid flowerbeds, flowerpots or patios. The robot, of course, has sensors that will allow it to detect unexpected obstacles and will turn off the knife drive when it is lifted. You can also stop it manually by pressing the button on the top of the housing. Of course, you can wash the equipment with a hose and leave it in the rain – meets the requirements of the IPX5 standard. If it starts raining while mowing, the robot will return to the station itself and wait for better weather.
The robot has its own GPS receiver, or rather connecting several systems (GPS, GLONASS, Beidou, Galileo), and is also constantly connected to the docking station via LTE (unlimited free transfer) and the Stiga cloud. Thanks to this, he always has a reference point that does not move and can correct for the imperfect satellite positioning system (surveyors use a similar solution). The real accuracy of the robot's movements is… maximum 2 cm! With such a small deviation, the robot has superior mowing accuracy to any manual mower.
To maintain accuracy, the mower may travel approximately 10 km from the docking station. The most important thing is that it still sees the same geostationary satellites as the permanently installed receiver.
This solution has another advantage – if the robot gets stuck in a hole dug by a dog or a molehill, it can be easily located. Of course, if someone decides to steal the mower, it will be easy to locate it. This is a pointless idea, because once a robot is assigned to an account, it is useless on someone else's lawn.
Mulching is the new watering
Robotic mowers do not have a container for the cut grass, but you do not have to run after them with a rake. In fact, it's not even allowed! The cut grass, leaves and stems of other plants are chopped as in a blender. Organic material returns to where it came from – to the earth. This process is called mulching. In Poland it is a relatively new idea, but in Sweden it has been a standard for years.
Mulching has many advantages, and not having to rake after mowing is not the biggest advantage. Chopped plants release stored water and minerals into the soil. This prevents the soil from drying out and reduces the need to fertilize the lawn. This not only has a positive effect on the health of the grass, but also reduces the costs of keeping it in good health.
Speaking of costs, I also learned that maintaining a lawn with an electric robot is much cheaper than a combustion lawn mower. Calculations made on several sample lawns say: reducing costs by more than ten times (20 groszy instead of 3.50 for fuel). In addition, the electric mower does not stink, does not require adding oil and is incredibly quiet – you can't hear its three electric motors at all (one for the drive wheels and one for the blades). Only the quiet ticking of cut grass comes from underneath.
Is there room for innovation in the tools?
Stiga produces more than just mowing robots. The offer also includes yellow and black cordless trimmers, chainsaws, blowers, hedge trimmers and other tools that will make your lawn, hedge and trees look great.
The batteries caught my attention. Stiga is among the manufacturers that use the same energy storage to power various tools. In the photos below you can see a universal charger and a surprisingly quiet electric leaf blower, powered by two batteries.
Energy efficiency is, of course, one of the most important areas of innovation of the Stigi R&D department, which is currently working in Italy. This is no surprise – everyone, everywhere is already working on saving energy. The same applies to materials. The housings of handheld devices and robotic lawnmowers use recycled plastic (up to over 60% in the housings), but this will not negatively affect durability. You must remember that a lawn mower or hedge trimmer is not a purchase for 3 years, but for 30 years.
Is there anything else I can change about my trimmer, chainsaw or leaf blower? Martina Schiavon, Stiga's head of marketing, drew my attention to a very important area: ergonomics.
Ergonomics is now a huge field for innovation. For decades, the tools have not changed, and the lawn and hedge were men's territory. Now is different. Men, women and even teenagers take care of the garden. Tools must be adapted to new users, current and future.
This explains why Stigi landscape maintenance equipment puts a lot of effort into reducing the weight of the equipment and reducing vibrations. People with increasingly diverse body shapes take up tools and you have to be ready for it. And indeed, compared to the garden equipment I had the opportunity to use 15 years ago at my parents' house, Stigi devices are light as a feather, well-balanced and extremely comfortable. All the buttons are exactly where I expected them to be.
Martina told me that many years ago Stiga received a lot of complaints from… well-built men. These included professional lumberjacks who worked with wood cutting tools for hours, for many years of their lives. They pointed out how badly the vibrations of the devices affect the musculoskeletal system. This, in turn, prompted Stiga designers to work on shock absorption.
Not only the users are changing, but also our gardens – not necessarily in accordance with our wishes.
Plant needs are also changing. Climate change has introduced new plants into gardens. Entirely new species of grasses and shrubs have been bred to better cope with the new climate. Tools must go hand in hand with these trends.
I also found out that Stiga still draws on many years of experience in the production of garden equipment. The company was founded in 1934 in Sweden as a local equivalent of the Polish PPHU in the hands of the enterprising Stig Hjelmquist. It started producing its first mowers in 1958. Today's Stiga group also draws on the experience of the Castlegarden, Alpina and Mountfield brands, with which Stiga merged in 2000. Thanks to this, Stiga has a whole encyclopedia of knowledge about taking care of greenery, from home lawns to football pitches and golf courses.
