LawnBott Spyder Review

Drop and Mow

No control panel, no options. On button, mow. Off button, no mow.  No perimeter wire needed. Yes, it will work in your yard.  Yes, even you can operate it.  Now you know everything you need to about the LawnBott LB1200, dubbed the LawnBott Spyder.  The rest my friend, is just details for your reading pleasure. 

From the Beginning, or a Little Before

In May 2007 I was invited to meet with a number of very important people from Zucchetti Centro Sistemi, the manufacturer of the LawnBott.  They told me they had a new robot mower in testing that did not require a perimeter wire.  It did not use GPS or any outside navigation.  It did not use infrared, sonar, or any other active signal.  It used only passive sensors to detect the humidity of the grass.

The LawnBott Spyder could tell the difference between grass and anything that isn't grass including mulch, dirt, dead grass, seeded areas, and concrete.  The boundaries would be ones own yard.

Don't Say It!

"Do you know how I know it is a stupid idea that will never work?" I asked," Because your great-grandparents and your grandparents weren't smart enough to come to America!"

The thing about eating your words, especially big words like those is it is like the Horn of Cornucopia, you can never finish the meal.  As I write this review I am on my 50th helping of humble pie with no end in sight.  Could you please pass the salt?

Before anyone gets mad at me, allow me to stand up and take a bow.  At that fateful meeting Zucchetti told me they were going to keep this robot mower on the shelf for 2-3 years because it was too far ahead of the market.  I am sure my comment was a major factor in bringing the LawnBott Spyder to market in America in 2008 instead of 2011.  It is scheduled to be released in Europe in 2009.


First Impression, or a Little Before

The first working LawnBott Spyder robot mower I got to sneak peek was the European version in August 2007.  It was smallish, but cute as a bug. When they put it on the ground and turned it on, it started one direction, hit the concrete, stopped and started going back until it hit mulch.  Once again it automatically stopped, and went a new direction. 

Immediately my mouth started watering.  At first first I thought it was because I was looking at history.  This is going to be the robot mower that is going to change the world.  Then one of the Zucchetti people came up to me and said two words with the stinging power of 1,000 bees, "Ingegnosita italianana!"  Roughly translated, "Would you like the first slice a la mode?"



American Version, Second First Impression

The American version is far more for Americans.  It is about 50% larger and 100% better looking.  The muscle look and essence of, "bigger is better mentality" glistens "My Country, 'Tis of Thee.." in the afternoon sun. 

It has broad shoulders, a thin waist, and muscular legs, all at the disposal of a powerful brain with a work ethic of a corn hungry mule.  I have a team of lawyers working on a royalty agreement because it is obvious they used me as the design model.  (GRIN)



Tall Grass Height

In all seriousness, the reason the LawnBott Spyder had to be bigger was to accommodate the taller cutting heights.  The top end cutting height is about 3-3/4 all the way down to about 3/4 inches.  The blade motor itself is adjustable by about an inch-and-a-half.  Three different size wheel options allow for the rest of the height adjustment of low, medium, and tall.  (Honestly, that was my idea!)


How Does it Know to Stay in the Yard?

Believe it or not,  The LawnBott Spyder knows the difference between live growing grass and what is not live growing grass.  Dead grass is not live growing grass so it will not cut there.  Mulch is not live growing grass so it will not cut there.  Neither is concrete, gravel, tree roots, or your kids socks.

It has 2 sets of 6 sensors, 3 in the front and 3 in the back.  When either set does not detect it is touching real live grass, it stops and goes a new direction. 

How reliable and accurate is it?  Let's just say you are going to name it after your favorite childhood pet.

Blade

The 8 1/2 inch blade spins at 4,000 rpm with enough torque to handle St. Augustine grass (YES!).  The blade is thin enough that even when dull cuts grass better than a freshly sharpened traditional mower blade.

The blade generates no wind speed.  Why is that good?  Well, it means the grass is basically standing straight up when it gets clean cut.  We have fire ants in Alabama.  We put a fine white powder, like baby powder on the hills to kill the ants.  The LawnBott Spyder does not disturb that powder in the least!

The blade motor has what LawnBott calls Blade Modulation.  Software monitors the amount of resistance of grass against the blade.  Overly tall or thicker grass requires more power and recently cut or thinner grasses require less power.  So, the LawnBott Spyder only provides power to the mowing motor as required to efficiently cut your yard instead of operating at full power all the time!

Battery

What would a LawnBott be without the hi-tech lithium ion battery?  If you have already read any of my other reviews you will know the LawnBott li-on battery is specially designed with a smart chip inside the battery to maximize the life for 4-5 years of use.

The LawnBott Spyder will run for about 4 hours (actually 5, but I am told to tell you 4, but it is 5 hours) on a single charge and will take about 4 hours to fully recharge. 

4 Wheel Drive

The LawnBott Spyder 4 wheel drive system means it isn't going to easily get stuck.  It actually has two powerful drive motors (way bigger than they need to be) and a chain drive to the other 2 wheels.  This gives the LawnBott Spyder the ability to manage 30 degree slopes (actually our tests show it can handle more than 35 degree slopes, but I am told to say 30 degree, but it is really more than 35 degrees).  The very low center of gravity and 4 wheel drive makes this thing a mountain goat.

Bump Sensor

The LawnBott Spyder has no bump sensor on the shell.  What?  No, serious, the shell is screwed onto the body like a tortoise shell.  How does a blind tortoise know when it has run into something?  When one leg stops moving or requires too much power to push through.

So it is true with the LawnBott Spyder, the first marketable robotic lawnmower that senses it is stuck when one or more wheels stop turning or requires a high amount of power to move.

Robomower owners will truly appreciate this feature!  For everyone else it is like talking to a 30 year-old about cars without air conditioners.  Believe me, this is a very big feature!

Charging

The LawnBott Spyder does not have an automatic docking station.  It needs to be manually recharged after each mowing.  For those used to the LawnBott Evolution or LB3500, this is a major drawback.  However, there are a lot of people who do not want their mower to go out on its own and there are a lot of people who do not want to lay down the perimeter wire.  For them, this Mow is for you!

Italian Innovation

For such a small thing, the LawnBott Spyder is chockfull of big innovations.  Mark my words, the groundbreaking technology in this mower is going to revolutionize the robotic lawnmower industry.

The ability to stay in the yard with humidity sensors was brilliant.  The world was looking to GPS, and in a Johnny Cochran-esque move, LawnBott came up with a much simpler, far more reliable and down to earth (pun intended) method that people will amaze their friends for years. 

Go ahead, tell some friends about this mower and watch them shake their heads like you are an idiot.  Show them how your new mower works and watch their eyes pop out!  (I have plenty of humble pie to share with them.)

Another innovation that almost went unnoticed is how it detects it is stuck or in trouble.  The wheels have sensors that detect when a wheel has stopped moving or is using a high amount of power, thus able to keep itself from getting stuck.   No one in the robotic lawnmower industry thought of this, and I am the first one to appreciate it and bring it to the forefront where it belongs.  To the engineer who thought of that, Kudos!

Next on the innovations list is the very low center of gravity with a wide wheel base.   Why, oh why, has this not been done?

Are we done yet?  Nope, what about the 4 wheel drive?  How can we have a review without applauding that idea? 

There are a lot of other innovations I cannot talk about because of patent issues.  The world is changing and this cute little thing is the snowball on top of the mountain, lookout below!


Conclusion

The LawnBott Spyder looks good.  If it does not look good, it isn't going to be called LawnBott.

The LawnBott Spyder is intelligent and is very hard working.  The high torque blade motor and adjustable clearance makes it suitable for most medium sized yards.  The 4 wheel drive makes it useable on virtually any hill.

The LawnBott Spyder is low maintenance, just sharpen or replace the blade every few months and recharge it after every mowing.  That's it.

The lithium ion battery will last 4-5 years.  The mower itself will probably still be working long after you have sold it or put it in the garage for a new super-generation model.

Although the LawnBott Spyder does not have an automatic recharging station, the benefits are so clear for those looking for an easier way to cut their lawn.  Drop and mow.  Not any more complicated than that.

Note: There will be a limited amount of LawnBott LB1200 models this year.  Please call us for details on how you can get on our waiting list.  We have already filled our promised quota for March and April.  So please call for our June/July shipment.  There is no deposit required, we trust our customers. (877) 383-6054

LawnBott does not allow us to sell outside the U.S. For our friends in Canada, I highly recommend you contact Canada's Leading Robomower and LawnBott Dealer the video on his website is world-class.  His customer service and product knowledge rivals ours.  Together, we will be publishing a monthly newsletter you can sign up here Robotic Lawnmower Newsletter.

If you could ask Kerry one question about this review, what would it be?
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