re: OFFICIAL HOME ROBOT THREAD - Vacs, lawnmowers, pool cleaners, etc.

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I often can’t tell where it has cut and where it hasn’t. And when I can, it seems closer to the first gen Roomba than a modern mapping system. Looks pretty random. In theory I think they are cool. In reality, they aren’t there yet.

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They're more "lawn maintainers" than lawnmowers. They're supposed to run 2-3 times a week and just take around 1/4 - 1/2" off, so the difference in areas cut/uncut will be subtle.

The mapping/cutting system is liable to be different for every mower. I got a Segway Navimow i105N about a month ago and it's done well for me. It changes the direction of mowing by (I think) 45° every time it cuts, which helps eliminate lines and helps ensure that the total lawn gets covered over the course of its 3 weekly mows.

I've only been running it in the back yard, and I've been happy with it. The lawn isn't terribly hilly, but there were some areas that I was worried about it getting stuck, and it hasn't. I still haven't run it in the front yard. I'm in a decent enough neighborhood, and I'm not worried about it getting stolen so much as kids fricking around with it. I don't feel like babysitting it while it's out there, so I'm probably going to eventually schedule it to run at like 6:30AM twice a week. It's very quiet, so the early start time won't bother the neighbors. Overall, I'm happy with the purchase.

Just got a new Roomba with Vac and mapping and it has been put through the ringer the last week. The mapping feature is awesome and our older one, that we are giving to our son for the dog he now has, didn't have mapping but performed very well.

We also have the Dolphin Nautilus CC for our pool, works great. And we have a Betta Bot that is a solar power surface skimmer. We have crepe myrtles, cypress trees, pine and oak trees near our pool so it was a constant battle with the polaris and skimmers to keep up with the leaves and needles. Not any longer! Just empty the bots and enjoy life!