If you’re trying to think of ways you can save the time and energy of mowing your own lawn, a robotic mower could be the perfect solution for you.
These futuristic devices will mow your lawn as often as necessary throughout the growing season, keeping it healthy and maintained while freeing you up to spend time enjoying your garden.
Because robotic mowers are still new to the scene, many people have a lot of questions about them.
In particular, understanding how the mowers stay powered can help you determine the best model for your garden.
In This Article – We take a look at how battery-operated robotic mowers keep themselves charged and run through several key power specifications of robotic mowers.
Do Robotic Mowers Self-charge?
You’ll be pleased to learn that you’ll not have to keep carrying the new robotic mower indoors every day to charge its battery. Most battery-powered robotic mowers will come with a charging station that you plug into your mains power.
When the robotic mower is low on power it will return back to the charging station on its own to charge before continuing to mow.
Battery Power Is Key to the Performance of Robotic Mowers
Watching a robot mow your lawn is a very different experience from the noise and fumes of a traditional push mower.
Also, all those miles of tangled power cord…
These robots are equipped with advanced technologies and remote control wireless capability to carry out lawn care cord free.
The core of your mower is a diligent battery product that was engineered for clean and predictable power.
The benefits that come along with a battery powered robotic mower.
Since an autonomous lawnmower uses battery power it is extremely convenient and has some considerable advantages in comparison to other power sources:
- Cordless: These robotic mowers are not tied to a wire, so there is excellent freedom of movement and they are very flexible with movement.
- No emissions: Battery-powered mowers do not have the choking fumes and significant carbon footprint of running a petrol mower, which is better for your lungs and follows more sustainable practices.
- Low-noise: If you have gotten used to Saturdays being dominated by the sound of a mower running, you will be surprised by the very low sound levels of robotic mowing. They are much quieter because they do not have a combustion engine and you will enjoy a peaceful garden instead.
- Lightweight: Most robot mowers have batteries on board that embrace the latest in technology to make them light while still putting in a meaningful performance to mow your lawn.
- Low running costs: The running costs of battery-powered mowers are low compared to a petrol ride-on or push mower. These mowers are also designed so you will never run completely out of battery; it will only run down a little, and then back again; so when you think about it, you are just charging the battery from low to top and the running cost is very low.
- Long run time: These mowers can mow for long seconds before requiring a charge. The best mowers can mow form an hour or longer before they return to charge for a few hours.
A Robotic Mower Will Ensure That Its Onboard Lithium-ion Battery Stays Fully Charged
The lithium-ion battery in each self-charging robotic lawn mower represents its core functionality.
Lithium-ion batteries today are prevalent across passenger electronics compatible with autonomous lawn mowers that guarantee a lawn perfectly cut.
Lithium-ion batteries often provide long charge capabilities and always have potential to self-charges. After hearing these properties, it only gets better because they are long-lasting, durable, and can perform hundreds of cycles!
When a mower is in motion, lithium ions, in your battery, move from the negative side of the battery to the positive side of the battery! When recharging, this process completes, enabling lithium ions to move back.
As a result, your mower can charge and discharge its battery, without considering the wear to the battery from all the operations it may be doing in other parts of your yard, hundreds of times – the entire process remains stable in complete cycles due to the formula, and resulting chemical reactions.
Lithium-ion batteries are practically useful, but also portable, contain great energy to weight ratio and high open-circuit voltage.
These batteries also have a low self-discharge rate which is important because when you take the battery and the mower back into storage, after cutting grass during a given season, the mower will only lose a small amount of battery power, even into winter storage.
However, not all lithium-ion batteries are even close to the same quality or, still have the same affordability based on their chemistry, characteristics of performance, and safety profile.
How Long Will My Robotic Mower Battery Last?
Unfortunately, rechargeable batteries do not last indefinitely. Depending on the brand and model of your robotic lawnmower, the battery should last approximately 2 to 5 years, give or take.
After some time and repeated charging cycles, lithium-ion batteries start to perform unwanted chemical reactions that create crystals that reduce the capacity of the battery.
If you begin to notice that the battery does not seem able to reach a full charge, that is a good sign that it is nearing the end of its useful life.
If it can only charge to 75% or lower you are likely very close to needing to replace your battery in your robotic mower.
To Charge Themselves Automatically, Robot Mowers Come with a Charging Station
The robotic mower is utterly useless, without a charging station.
The another accessory to purchase for the robotic mower is its complimentary charging station to self-charge.
The charging station is the launch pad and landing strip for a robotic mower, initiating every journey from this location and returning to it at the end of each journey.
The mower and charging station communicates wirelessly, with the charging station emitting a signal to the mower that reminds it of the charging stations location.
Position a charging station on flat ground, in an open area avoiding corners and gradients for the best accessibility for the robotic mower when returning to charge.
The charging station has its own onboard transformer and a cabled connection to an indoor power outlet.
The boundary wire that defines the cutting area of the robotic mower also connects to the charging point.
The robotic mower uses the boundary wire to find its way back home.
At the end of the journey to cut outside of the boundary wire, the robotic mower will return automatically to the charging station, docking into the station to charge. Some mowers employ contactless charging.
Typical Power Specifications of Robotic Mowers
When choosing a robotic mower, you will want to check it for its power capabilities
While most robotic mowers for home use utilize lithium-ion batteries, you will want to know that the batteries perform to specifications based on the size of the lawn and its gradient.
Here are the specifications you will want to inquire about and check:
- Battery energy capacity: Battery energy capacity indicates how much energy is stored in the battery and is expressed in Watt-Hours (Wh). The battery energy capacity is calculated by battery suppliers by multiplying the number of Amps by the battery voltage. The energy stored in the battery differs from the usable energy made available by the battery which is typically less than the stored battery energy.
- Charging current: Lithium-ion batteries are charged at a constant current until the battery reaches the final voltage, with charging currents typically relying between 1 and 1.5 Amps. Lithium-ion batteries have the constant current constant voltage (CCCV) charging algorithm.
- Motor output: Manufacturers measure the power of the motors of these robotic mowers in watts instead of horsepower. One horsepower is 746 watts and most garden mowers with shaft power characteristics have a motor output of about 80 watts.
- Run time or work time: The cutting time of the robotic mower is an estimate and will vary relative to how the robotic mower is cutting. Heavy grass, uneven ground, and on slopes will draw more energy and therefore reduce the cutting time after charging.
- Charging time: This is the amount of time for a completely depleted battery to become completely charged. A properly functioning robotic mower should return to its charging station before the battery is completely depleted – operates to near depletion of the batteries – and re-charge. The processes of cutting and recharging of the battery is fully automatic with no effort on your part.
Brushed Vs Brushless Motors Is Another Consideration for Self-charging Robotic Mowers
The energy consumption rating of the mower dictates how long you can work with the mower before it needs to go back to charge.
While the working conditions the mower has to deal with will determine how much energy the mower uses, you can make a significant impact on the battery life by selecting a robotic mower that includes a brushless electric motor.
What Is a Brushless Motor?
This motor design type utilizes a permanent magnet for its rotor.
Using magnets to generate power results in frictionless action of the brushless motor.
This means the motor expends less energy as heat and becomes more efficient.
A brushless motor is a better choice for a battery powered electric mower because it is much more efficient with a much higher torque to weight ratio, and provides much more torque per watt of power supplied, than a brushed motor.
The Ultimate in Self-charging Robotic Mowers Are the New Solar Hybrid Robotic Mowers
Every robotic mower must return to a source of mains power to charge itself.
Exciting developments are being made towards a self-charging mower that will take advantage of its outdoor environment.
For example, few people are aware that Husqvarna has launched a world first solar hybrid robotic lawn mower, which can be powered by both solar energy and electricity.
The mower has a lightweight, high specification solar panel mounted on the mower chassis.
The solar panel will significantly reduce the onboard battery demands, allowing the mower to run for many hours on solar power on a sunny day without needing to return to its charging station.
Rounding Up
One major benefit of a robotic lawnmower is that there is no need for you to charge it, since it does that part itself.
However, having a quality battery and good power management is crucial for a robotic mower.
When a robotic lawnmower will be long-term mower, then consider those features closely.