Can Robot Mowers Actually Handle Stone Pathways Without Damage?

Maple Z. - 2024/08/09

Worried about your robot mower on stone paths? Discover expert tips to protect your mower and keep your garden flawless. How do you handle stone paths in your garden?

If you don't have a robot mower, it may be difficult to visualize how these AI-driven robots can just glide through stone paths without breaking their blades and bones. Life becomes a lot easier once you understand the concept of obstacle avoidance and To-Go Zones.

Potential Risks of Stone Paths

1. Blade and Wheel Wear and Tear

The general cutting height of a robot lawn mower can range from 40mm to 100mm. If the mowing height is set too low, the blades could get chipped, dulled, or even damaged by the hard surface in your garden. If the stones are uneven or have sharp edges, or if your mower is not that advanced, it could be worse, leading to wear and tear on the wheels.

2. Causing Your Grass Mower to Go Bonkers

Uneven surfaces could cause your friends to lose balance. It's the same for our little lawn mowing robots. The only difference is that it could potentially get stuck and end up going all over the place, mowing in patterns you’ve never imagined before. This is due to the stone paths disrupting the lawn mower's route, resulting in missed patches of grass or uneven mowing. Just like a robot, its sensors could get confused by the irregular surface. Yes, there's obstacle avoidance, so your mower won't be going around bumping into things, but the 'flawless stripes' you dreamed of won't appear if you stop reading here.

What would you do if these risks happened to you? Chuck your mower away? Call service and support, or ask for a replacement?

First, let's explore the different types of stone pathways: cobblestone paths, gravel paths, paving stone paths, flagstone paths, and pea gravel paths.

Do any of these sound familiar to you? Believe it or not, knowing the different types of stone paths can help you understand why your mower behaves the way it does. 

How Does RoboUP Robot Mower Deal With Stone Paths?

Robot mowers in general can glide through gravel, depending on which robot mower you get. There may still be some risks involved, as mentioned previously, so it is important to research your robot mowers properly before purchase, and understand what type of stone path lies in your garden.

Most RoboUP users in Europe prefer DIY pathways made with cobblestone. This makes it easy for the RoboUP mower to avoid the levitated grounds with its advanced AI Vision camera, obstacle avoidance, and precise RTK positioning for swift navigation. There's another way that RoboUP mowers can deal with gravel and stone paths. This is when To-Go Zones come into play, where you can simply set To-Go Zones on the App so that the mower can glide directly through the stones and gravel.

How to Create To-Go Zones?

1) Open the RoboUP® App and tap the device on the home page. Click the [Edit map] icon on the next page.

2) Tap the [三 / Menu] icon on the top right corner and select the [To-Go Zone] option.

3) If the mower is not at the spot where you want to start creating a To-Go Zone, use the thumb sliders and steer it to the starting point. Tap [Start] to go next.

4) Use the thumb sliders again and steer the mower to create a boundary of the 'To-Go Zone' on the map. After that, tap [Complete] to save the 'To-Go Zone'.

For comprehensive guidelines of the RoboUP® App, you could check the RoboUP APP Guide in RoboUP's download center. For video guidelines, please check out the Tutorial Videos Center and search for the keyword 'how to'.

So, do you have much gravel or pathways in your garden? Yes? Go create some To-Go Zones! It's a RoboUP thing, let it walk through your garden's stone path and cut the grass growing in between the stones ever so smoothly.

For more information on types of stone paths, you can read Family Handman's article:

Stone Paths, Pavers or Gravel: Which Type of Garden Path Is Best

1

6

Top 7 Lawn Mowers Perfect for Large Lawns in 2024 RoboUP T1200 Pro Declassification: From Unboxing to Setup