Customer Reviews

Friendly Robotics RL500 Robomower

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

My Robomower does indeed do what is is advertised to do. I installed the 16-gauge, single-strand perimeter wire as instructed. It took a lot of pegs (all 200, in fact) to hold down the wire on my uneven bermuda grass lawns. I charged up the mower, and set it loose.

I was actually giggling as it ran around the perimeter wire, then proceeded to mow my lawn while I sipped on an ice-cold soda in the shade.

At first glance the robomower seems to be a little on the cheap side. But I think Friendly Robotics spent the money where it does the most good--the motors. This thing was able to motor out of some pretty uneven spots on my lawns. Battery life was better than advertised, but this may be due to the relatively small size of my lawns because the mower makes a lot of stops to change direction.

The user interface is well thought-out, and the user manual and video provided with the mower make set up straight forward. I think anyone capable of programming a VCR would have no trouble setting up the robomower.

My only criticisms so far are: 1) It would be nice if the perimeter switch were weatherproof so you could leave it outside; 2) A "pigtail" of heavier wire or more heavily insulated wire going between the perimeter wire and switch would make it less likely to get eaten by a string trimmer, and 3) a more sophisticated charger, that could switch between fast and trickle charge, would be nice. I think a charger like this is available from the company.

These are pretty minor gripes. All in all, it performs as advertised. And hey, when was the last time you giggled while somebody else (or something else) mowed your lawn?

ONE YEAR UPDATE

I've owned Robe (my cute little name for it) for a year now. Here's the scoop:

Problems: Only one. One wire in the pigtail coming from the controller pulled out. I fixed it in 5 minutes with my soldering iron. Oh the joy of being a boy.

What have I learned? Battery life has remained the same over the course of the year. Robe does not like mowing wet grass, and is more likely to get stuck on my bumpy Bermuda grass lawn if he tries to mow early in the morning. However, since neither Robe nor I are "morning people," this is seldom a problem. Robe does not like long grass--when I go three weeks between mowing, especially if the grass is wet, Robe is a little more likely to get stuck. However, these are pretty paltry complaints. I have spent much time watching the little mushroom roam my lawn trying to figure out its behavior. I am very impressed with its programming. If it is mowing the edge, for example, and it gets stuck, it will often back up, motor into the main lawn area, and automatically go into regular mowing mode. When it gets stuck in the middle of the lawn, it will try to go back and forth, or turn, to unstick itself. Pretty impressive. I usually plan on watching Robe while it does the edge--this is when it is most likely to encounter an obstacle. Robe's mushroom shape helps it motor under shrubs to get the edge of a lawn where you would have trouble with a normal lawnmower. I try to work in the yard when Robe is at work in case he gets stuck, but if I mow my lawns every week he might get stuck one in three times or less. I will usually check on him after an hour or so, and if he is stuck it is no problem to restart him. He probably wouldn't get stuck at all if I really took care of my yard, but that is another story. Robe is at least as smart as my cat Bigz, and a lot more useful. I am completely satisfied with this product after using it for a year.

I expected some ridicule for purchasing a robot mower. The loss of what little exercise mowing gave me, plus the fact that no one I knew had ever seen, much less bought a robot mower, seemed to indicate I should be focusing on more traditional ways of clipping the grass. Only my penchant for gadgets got me off the hook of being labelled eccentric. My Toro was starting to use some oil, and smoke a little on the slopes of my lawn. My wife had started to mow the lawn regularly this season, and was having trouble starting the gas mower at times. The Robo mower seemed a small risk. I was able to use the ROBO mower right out of the box. It performed as advertised, with a few minor exceptions. The exceptions included an inability to get any kind of a straight line while using the mower in the manual mode. The touchpad used for controlling the direction in manual was extremely insensitive, and the rearward turns were confusing( I wasn't sure which of us was confused, me or the mower). A call to Technical Service confirmed that I was not the only one having problems with the manual steering. A very friendly and informative young man told me that there was a brainstorming session in the works, and I would be upgraded with whatever came from the solution. I found the instructions very well written. I found, to my chagrin, that when they say a 15 degree slope, they mean exactly that. The mower actually will do small slopes, but does not like anything over 15 degrees. The ruler that comes with the installation kit (used in placing the perimeter wire) is very accurate in staying within the capabilities of the mower. I needed to make only two small corrections to the wire placement (both operator-induced), and the machine proceeded to do it's stuff. It took no time at all to gather a small, admiring crowd. I am currently running a contest to name the mower (Col. Mustard, of Clue fame, is one entry, and Old Yeller another). I have also had requests to add eyes, ears, and a tail. The Gulden's mustard color is not terribly attractive, but perhaps designer colors will come soon. The instructions also mandate a minimum width of seven feet for the mower to operate. Anything smaller requires human intervention using the manual controller (see first paragraph). It would be nice if the mower were able to mow in smaller areas. Having said all that, I found have found the limitations easy to live with. The mower does a nice job mowing; if it takes twice as long to mow, at least I can watch from the comfort of my hammock. The mower is extremely quiet. The instructions say a maximum of 85 decibels. I do not believe it is anywhere that loud. The mower passed within one foot of a resting dog, and elicited no reaction other than a yawn. I can't hear anything more than low hum when it is further than thirty feet from me. I ran it after dark one evening, and the lady next door (close by with the windows open) heard a very low hum that she could not identify, and couldn't believe I was mowing my lawn. I paid less for this mower than what I paid for my Toro walk behind several years ago. I get my exercise other ways, and don't pollute as with a standard mower. I like it very much so far (three weeks), and my wife likes it as well (no pulling on starter ropes). I would expect to get one for my father-in-law next spring. I would not hesitate to recommend the Friendly Robotics mower to anyone familiar with the advertised limitations.

Location: Florida
Grass Type: St. Augustine
Season: Winter
Model: RL500
Affectionate Name: Bot-Bot

Well, I have had Bot-Bot for a couple of weeks now and I love it. I originally bought Bot-Bot to do the backyard while I did the front, but it is so easy that I have now put boundary wire around my whole yard (four separate zones). Putting down the boundary wire is a breeze.

I could not get Bot-Bot to run initially. It kept complaining about being too close to the boundary wire. So, I called up tech support and they had me going in less than 2 minutes. There was some internal configuration for my model that needed to be set.

The biggest problem I did have was Bot-Bot getting stuck in thick grass, so I had heard that the folks over at Friendly Robotics had better tires for it. So, I called them up and a few days later I had a new set of knobby tires (...). I slapped the new tires on and there is no way Bot-Bot is getting stuck now. It is awesome. I couldn't believe the tires made such a huge difference.

You can even run it at night! None of my neighbors can even hear it (Yes, I asked them all.). You will meet everyone in your neighborhood due to the Robomower, guaranteed. Now I have to see how it will run in the summertime.

OK - It's mid-September and about 4 1/2 months since I wrote my original review after my first week as a Robomower owner. How did the Robomower fare over a whole mowing season?
My assessment - still 5 stars. Robomower has been 100% reliable, the lawn looks fine, and most importantly, I have calculated that Robomower has created 40 extra hours of time for me this summer at a lower cost than hiring a lawn service. I've probably put on an extra pound or two from the lack of exercise and additional beers (sitting in the hammock watching the little guy do his work), but I feel that this is an acceptable tradeoff. Maintenance has been minimal -- monthly cleaning and one blade sharpening. Additional cost on my electric bill has not been noticable. My wife is much happier. All around, still a huge winner!

....I was hesitant to order the RoboMower, but decided to order it. I tried to figure out how it could effectively cut, mulch and groom my lawn. How does it work???? Will it work well?

It works GREAT!!!!!

First: installation is really pretty easy. You should view the video first. It really helps to understand how to do it. The pegs and wire are disappearing in soil and grass.

The first time you run Robomower, you will be amazed it is almost like someone is in the unit operating it. My kids are in love with Roby. Better yet, my wife (who thought I was crazy to order a robotic mower)......LOVES IT NOW!!!! It is amazing!

My lawn has never looked so good! It actually looks better than I ever could mow my lawn. It looks "manicured".

...I don't think I'll ever part with my Roby!

It was great this weekend to watch him work in the 98+ degree temperatures while I watched movies with my kids! It is awesome. You won't be disappointed.

Enjoy. This product is truly outstanding.

Like most parents today, there is little time between work, the commute, the children's team sports, their scouting and music lessons, and church activities. Weekends are a blur. The selling point for me was that I could start Robomower and walk away. It frees up some of my time to spend with the kids, or do some of the other weekend chores. And, I was a bit surprised how easy it was to use. The remote control allows for easy handling from the garage to the yard. Then push the start button and it starts cutting grass. I did have a slight problem instilling the wire border which keeps Robomower from wandering into the neighbor's yard. But it was a combination of user error and the hard drought-stricken Texas ground. I couldn't drive the stakes into the ground, but a good soaking with water solved that problem. Now if it could only pull weeds and spread fertilizer.

I have the robomower for a period of 10 months. I have St. Agustin grass and I live in a corner lot. It is not big but has oddly shapes in the front yard (Here is where I have problems).

It worked excellent last year in fall and this year in spring. This year I have been following advise how to get a better lawn in Texas so when summer temperature reached 85 or more degrees I changed the cut height to the 3" set (This is the recomended height for summer) the robomower is doing a poor job.

I have the new mower with traction weels but it is not enough it slip very often and I have to follow it everywhere to be ready when get stucked in one spot.

I have some slops nothing big but if you add the high grass and the slopes the battery started to drain to soon. In only takes 45 minutes to one hour to the robo mower experience problems. It barely moves.

The other problem is the shape of my front yard the robomower can not handle it and I have to do it mannualy. (Wich is not fun with the Texas heat and mosquitos). The manual control is good is you do not have to turn often.

In the back yard the story is different (and is double the sizes of my front yard). The only thing I have to do is press the green button and relax (maybe it will stuck once or twice in 1 1/2 hour work, not big deal. I have only to push it a little to make it advance so this is a very small inconvenience and I can say I get a 100% satisfaction in my back Yard.)

When I bought the robomower I got 60 days money back guarantee to test the robot to see if suits my land. I did it but I strongly suggest to buy it when you are ready to test the robomower in the most severe conditions. It worked fine in fall but not in summer time with 3" St. Agustin grass.

The company is working aggressively to fix problems (They replaced my robot for a new one with the traction whells) but I would suggest to test it, test it, and finally test it.

I would say it is not a completly robomower problem because my yard is to blame too (my front yard it is the most healthy and green in my neighbor, so it is very thick and dense).

It is a great invention and I am looking forward to see the robovacuum this year.

Bad news first - it doesn't mow weeds that well (if at all), it is slow, I needed extra perimeter wire (hardware store), don't leave perimeter switch in the soaking rain (learned from experience).

Good news - mine came with enough stakes (200?). Mine lasts 4 hours on 1 charge, a flat yard of bermuda/zoisia type grass. Takes about 6 hours to mow 8000+ sq.ft.

While its mowing I just do other yard work, watch TV, eat, play on the computer, etc. Believe me it works and it's awesome! I get a few strange looks when neighbors drive/walk by, but they're probably strange themselves. If you have other things to do around the house and/or don't like the summer heat - get the robomower to mow your lawn. It is also very quiet. I can talk on the phone while walking next to it mowing - no problem. Come football season I'll be watching the game(s) while others are outside mowing!

I just finished up my first mowing with the Robomower. My yard is approximately 7,000 square feet, so I have it partitioned into 3 areas for the Robomower. It does a great job on the lawn. I'm able to mow 2/3 of my yard in one evening and the other 1/3 the next morning. If you can, I would reccommend running the mower at night (it's very quiet). The setup was easy, and I made adjustments to the line on the fly to make a closer cut or to move it away from obstacles. I can mow 95% of my lawn with it. I plan on mowing every 3 days to keep things looking good. I purchased an extra battery and a fast charger so I can get my lawn mowed in a short time. I have lived in my neighborhood for 5 years and have met more neighbors in the last 2 days than I've met the whole 5 years! They all love it!

My Robomower RL500 (aka Robochop) allows me reduce the time I spend on lawn care by about 75%. I'll still cut the areas that are oddly shaped but it only takes me a few minutes to complete those. Another great benefit is that the Robomower can mow without light, so I have a great deal more flexibility in scheduling my lawn work. Instead of having to schedule blocks of time during my Saturday to work on the lawn, I can play all day, arriving back home 30-45 minutes before evening, complete the trim work and send the Robomower in to finish up after night falls. Way cool.