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Tag Archives: gardening

Bosch Has A Roomba For The Lawn, Except It Doesn’t Vacuum, It Cuts

By David Ponce

The above is called the Bosch Indego, and is a battery-powered autonomous lawn mowing machine. And it’s got a leg or two up on its competition. Sure, you still need to put some metal wires on the perimeter of your lawn, unless you want the Indego to wander off into the distance, but it’ll handle up to 1,000 sq. meters (or roughly 10,700 sq. ft.) of lawn all on its own thereafter. The main difference is the Indego cuts in straight lines instead of in a random pattern, which makes for a much more efficient cut since it’s not constantly going over the same spots. It apparently does this by localizing itself in relation to its base so it can keep track of where it’s been. But since mowing lawn is pretty heavy duty, its cutting protocol involves 20 minutes of action, with a quick trip back to base for a 90 minute charge, and repeat. If you have a big yard, this could take a while, but it’s hands-off so you shouldn’t really care.

The Bosch Indego will go out for a slow release in Scandinavia this year, with a wider release in 2013 for about US $2,040.

[ Press Release (In Swedish) ] VIA [ Automaton ]

No Green Thumbs? No Problem! This Device Takes Care Of Things For You

By David Ponce

Taking care of plants is one of those things that you’re either good at, or just simply terrible at. This particular editor happens to kill any photosynthesizing organism he comes across, so the Koubachi WiFi Plant Sensor could definitely come in handy. It features a special device that you plant in the soil near the plants it’s supposed to be monitoring. It’ll evaluate the soil moisture, the temperature and the amount of sunlight that area is getting and make sure it’s up to the required standards that the particular plant it’s assigned to needs. It communicates via WiFi to a free application on your iPhone, so you can know from a distance if things are peachy or not.

Of course, you need to actually check that application now and then, or even heed the notifications it’s sure to send. But hey, if you get to the point where even technology can’t help you gardening, perhaps you should look into some other hobby.

It’s $142.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gear Patrol ]

LawnBott SpyderEvo Is A Roomba For Your Yard

By David Ponce

Robots for the home are coming of age, though they’re still a far cry from the tea making, back rubbing, bed tucking electro-lackeys we all figured we’d have by now. Still, we can’t complain when you realize that there are robots to vacuum your rugs, scrub your linoleum, squeegee your windows and mow your lawn. The LawnBott SpyderEvo is obviously a member of that last group, and the $1,700 machine can take care of yards up to 10,000 sq. ft. all on its own. It uses a perimeter wire as well as a set of sensors to be fully autonomous, even going back to its own options recharge station to be ready for another day’s work without any human intervention. Its internal battery will keep it cutting for up to 3.5 hours, while its rugged wheels and AWD let it tackle hills up to 27 degrees.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Uncrate ]