SmartMow is a cost effective and environmentally friendly robot lawn mower for maintaining your lawn. The SmartMow works by using a perimeter wire to define the cutting area similar to that of an invisible dog fence. SmartMow starts off in a circular pattern trying to detect the perimeter wire, and then follows this wire back to the base station before mowing the rest of the yard.
The SmartMow is the first robot lawn mower sold in the US, by an American Company, and costs less than $1,000. At the time of this writing, people can pre-order the SmartMow for about $750 on SmartMow.com.
There’s lots of information to share on the SmartMow, and I invite your feedback on each blog entry. There’s nothing more important to me than hearing your thoughts.
I’d like to see more answers on the FAQ. I am concerned about how it handles a fence-less yard. Prior to making my investment in this, I’d like to see more videos and sound to accompany it. 60 decibels is not very loud, but still it would be nice to hear it. I’d rather not have a very loud mower going for 2-3 hours as I am sure my neighbors would not appreciate it.
Hi Joe,
It uses a perimeter wire and detects the current from the wire. The wire is hidden in the grass, and the SmartMow is much quieter than a normal lawn mower. I’ll get some additional videos up soon!
Here’s an additional video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS3OJG88MLY
I am really concerned about the 1-2 inch mowing height. Most people in the USA mow their lawns at 3-4 inches.
Thank you for pointing that out, that was an error on the website and we’ve just corrected that.
How will this unit handle yard debris? I live in an area with a lot of small twigs, pine cones, ect. that can collect in the yard. Does it have trouble with these?
Hi Martin,
We recommend on the SmartMow.com site that you remove the debris to preserve the life of the robot. Honestly, I have small twigs and stuff in my yard and haven’t had a problem.
I am glad people are asking the same questions I had. Here a few more:
1. How long has the company been in business?
2. As I understand it the unit will do 1/3 of an acre per charge. Will it resume until the lawn is done (I assume, “yes”) but how does it know that it is done?
3. My house is in the middle of the lot and the yard forms an “U” shape around it. It is narrower at the bottom of the “U”. Will the unit do both (front and back) without manual intervention?
4. Is there a customer satisfaction guarantee?
Thanks!
Dear LJ,
I’m glad to hear from you! We’ve been in business for 2 years. The SmartMow will mow about 3,229 sq. feet per zone, and will mow an area for 2-3 hours per charge depending on your lawn. This means that the SmartMow could mow more or less of that area depending on the conditions.
The SmartMow’s algorithm and sensors allow the SmartMow to detect tall grass and mow the area. Depending on your lawn size you may need an Expansion pack and create an additional zone. You can use the same SmartMow in multiple zones.
There is a customer service guarantee. There’s nothing more important to us than our customers and we’ll do what ever it takes to make you happy with your SmartMow. This includes, but is not limited to, a 30 day money back guarantee (we’ll try lots of other things too!).
Thanks for the quick reply. I was able to find the User Manual online and it answered lots of questions. Some of them were obvious but that’s the nature of consumer education. Other questions :
Can the unit be scheduled to start automatically? If this is a future enhancement — could the first units sold be updated ? More general, is the units’ engineering design modular enough to support upgrades of new features. Example; scheduling, wireless/wired control (to manually navigate the unit in/out of zones), rain detection and return to base, etc.
Oops! I re-read the users manual and I see that there’s a remote control unit. I guess, it would be nice to see a beginning to end video on the operation and features. Including zones. I’ll read the users manual more carefully next time!
It’s ok.
The SmartMow has a built in rain detection that will send it back to the base station. We are working on a few upgrade paths and will let you know, also the product isn’t coming until March so we might be able to add a few more of those “features” before selling them.
Stay tuned!
Mike
Thanks, Mike. Is the unit designed to be upgradeable after it is sold? Bugs, new firmware, etc.
I haven’t seen any activity here since 12/30/2008. Too bad..another dead blog, I guess..
Lj,
We were on vacation and now at the CES trade show. The blog is not dead, just more content to come soon.
Mike
I am glad to hear that. Now about the question I posted on 12/30 — what’s up with upgrades?
Thanks
Lj, we are trying to squeeze in some more feratures. At the very least we will have service centers for upgrades.
Sorry for the late response, been a bit busy.
I currently already use a Robomower and have been very satisfied with it’s results, but I’m always looking at what is new coming out and this mower is definitely priced better for a lot of people, including some friends of mine that the Robomower was out of their price range. One of the things that sold me on the Robomower, that I didn’t see that the other robotic mowers would do, was it’s ability to start out by following the perimeter wire doing the edge first until it got back to the dock (or back to the start point) and then mowing the yard. Do I understand correctly that the SmartMow will do this as well?
Hi Eric,
Yes, you are correct. The SmartMow will perform that way as well.
I know this might be a silly question, but if it hits dog poo, can you hose it out? I guess the question is: do you clean it like a regular mower? Lift it up or turn it over and spray it with the garden hose?
Hi Bill,
This depends on how tall you mow your lawn, and the state of the poo. For example, I like my grass mowed on the highest setting… this setting is typically higher than the poo piles from my golden retriever.
If there is poo on the mower, yes, you can just wash it off.
Smartmow is only in U.S. ? And sale in another country is not possible ? Brother´s Smartmow – Irobot Roomba an Irobot Scooba – from http://www.irobot.com is in Europe now and it is great (but more expensiv, not like U.S.).
Hi Radovan ,
SmartMow will be available around the world when it is released, and we will also ship internationally when needed.
Thanks for the inquiry and please stay tuned for a release this spring!
I AM READY TO BUY A ROBOTIC MOWER ;I HAVE 1 ACRE AND NEED SOMETHING THAT CAN HANDLE HALF AN ACRE IN FRONT AND HALF AN ACRE IN BACK. CAN SMARTMOW HANDLE MOWING THE FRONT THEN GO TO THE BACK ALONG A LINE CONNECTING THE TWO; OR IS THIS TOO MUCH FOR SMARTMOW.
Hi David,
Depending on the lawn the SmartMow Series-1 can handle up to 1/3rd of an acre per zone. You can have multiple zones for which you can increase the area through the expansion pack. To move the SmartMow between zones you can either use the remote control or manually move the SmartMow. The Series-1 does not currently use a perimeter wire to travel between zones.
Thanks for the inquiry and perhaps you’ll be interested in the Series-2 when it’s available.
I’ve been dreaming of owning a robot mower for several years, even playing with my own designs. Finally someone has come out with a reasonably priced model!
Was this product designed by your company, or is it an import? I read the user manual, and was wondering if you need someone to rewrite it. It sounds as if it was written by someone who speaks english as a second language.
Great product! I’m glad to see it comming out.
It was designed by our company, at the time we outsourced some stuff, documentation was one of those. We’re actually rewriting it.
Thanks for asking!
Definitely interested. I assume you are shipping? I didn’t see how to get the user manual…how do I? Does the gadget return automatically and recharge itself? (If the user manual answers such questions don’t answer this.)
I DO want to know generally how it works, for instance: It mows the perimeter, recharges itself and then works its way around the middle randomly –or some other such overall quick description. Thanks. Tom
Hi Tom,
Thanks for your inquiry! Yes, SmartMow’s are now shipping this week! The user manual can be found on the support page from http://SmartMow.com
Yes, it automatically recharges itself and goes back out. It uses the perimeter wire to tell it where not to go, and does a random pattern. It also detects thick patches of grass and mows in a circular pattern to cover it all.
If your back yard is totally fenced in, that’s ok! You can let it roam in the back and manually charge it … you can also have fun with the remote!
Please let us know if you have more questions!
Mike
Hi, Sorry my english is no good ,
i have a Smart Mow Series-1 , but not User Manual in Germany langwitch.
can you help me please???
my Mower make no working… and i dont no wat can i make ?
were is the start button ?
i have all make
Battery is full
Perimeter is all ready
???
thank you
Sebastian
Sebastian,
The support team will e-mail you directly.
Mike
Hi Mike,
I`m Enrico from germany, please excuse my english – I hope you can understand me.
Is it possible to programm the smartmow, for example: mow all two days at 10 o`clock?
There is someone on Ebay (see link: http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=220449317924 ) who wants to sell a mower which looks like the Smartmow. Is this a smartmow? He doesn`t answer my questions…
Thanks for your answer
Enrico
Hi Enrico,
The SmartMow Series-1.5 and later will have the ability to be scheduled. The current ones do not.
Also, that robot doesn’t say SmartMow on it – thus, it doesn’t have our technology inside.
We took over the robot mower program from a business partner and they sold some before our improvements.
We now service both; however, if it doesn’t say SmartMow on it, it will have some serious problems.
Best Regards,
Mike
Hello Mike,
thank you for the answer. Than I better will not buy the ebay shit
I think i`ll be waiting for the series 1.5.
Do you have a date for the publication of the new series? And an anticipated price?
Greetings from Germany
Enrico
Dear Enrico,
We’re still working on the 1.5 and there is no release date yet. I’m still looking forward to later this year. The price should not be affected – but that is still to be determined.
Best Regards,
Mike
Very useful information
DO you have updates by email on your developments?
Do you only sell direct from you or are you looking for dealers?
Dear David,
Thanks for your inquiry. Please just use the contact page for any business questions.
Best Regards,
Mike