TECHNOLOGY
BUYING
By Glenn Hansen
THE
The reasons for robots
BENEFIT
RC Mower ’ s autonomous mowing robot is one of a handful of robots appealing to early-adopter commercial mowers who know their labor problems are not going away .
As I write this , I ’ m looking at a text message from my son . “ Dad , I ’ m taking the boys to the car show this afternoon on 7th St . Meet us there .” Meanwhile , if I don ’ t mow the grass ( the grass I would have cut last night but for rain ), it will be a couple more days before I can , and … you know . I ’ d mow right now but this article is already late ; I need to get it done .
I could solve my time problem by purchasing a robotic lawn mower ; I ’ d also eliminate a weekly task I hate .
Robotic mowers are expensive . As a homeowner , I would need to pay $ 2,000 or more for a decent one . That ’ s at least 3X what I paid for my walk-behind a few years ago , which I still might need for some trimming . For a landscape contractor , an auto-mowing robot would cost around $ 50,000 , also 3X the cost of a typical commercial mower .
Return on robotics
For a pro contractor , “ the ROI math is pretty simple and we can actually show it to them ,” said Charles Quinn , founder of Greenzie , the software company whose technology enables Wright
and others to offer autonomous zero-turn mowers . Quinn , better known as CBQ , gave the example of a Greenzie-equipped Wright Stander that costs $ 46,000 , about a $ 30,000 premium over a non-robot Wright Stander . “ Over a three-year period , that ’ s 10 grand a year for a robotic worker who will mow as much as you want . You can ’ t hire anybody for 10 grand a year .”
It ’ s not about firing workers currently on landscape crews ; it ’ s about getting work done that landscape companies can ’ t currently hire for . “ Labor availability is difficult , and the problem is not going away ,” said Tim Kubista , VP of sales and marketing for RC Mowers , maker of autonomous mowing robots . “ Many large landscape companies have full time staff just always looking for employees . Autonomy can replace those jobs . That ’ s the promise and it ’ s not difficult to use .”
Let me take a minute here to define robotics and autonomy . Robotics is the technology that enables a piece of equipment to perform a task , generally replacing a human – whether that ’ s a vacuum , a mower , or one of those flame-throwing robot dogs ( Google it ). Autonomy is the ability of a robot to act indepen-
20 OPE + September 2024 www . OPE-Plus . com