Robotic mowers are a popular ‘smart’ alternative to traditional push or ride-on mowers and keep your lawn well-maintained all summer long.
If you are considering buying a robotic lawnmower, you may be wondering if your new mower will be safe around children and pets.
We all know that having children and/or pets is a job in itself so the last thing you need when you are looking for convenience is to have to be cautious about this piece of machinery around your kids.
Robotic mowers are designed with built-in safety features that make them very safe in comparison to conventional petrol, manual or ride-on mowers.
These smaller, more compact mowers operate in a ‘smart’ way avoiding obstructions and ceasing operation if handled.
In This Article – We explain everything you need to know about running a robotic mower around children and pets and the key safety features to look out for when purchasing a robotic mower.
Table of Contents
Are Robotic Mowers Safe?
It’s understandable to have concerns about having an autonomous mower working in your garden with pets and children around.
After all, with three razor-sharp blades, onboard the potential for a nasty injury is very real.
Even without the cutting action of a mower, you don’t want curious hands or paws prying, pulling, or damaging an expensive piece of equipment.
Thankfully: Robotic mowers are packed with great features that don’t just prevent injuries to children and/or pets but also protect the mower from damage.
Robotic Lawn Mower Safety Features
Here are some of the built-in safety features of these smart home robotic mowers that protect your children and pets from harm.
Automatic ‘Shut-Off’
Robotic lawn mowers are designed to shut down if they sense or collide with objects in your garden.
The blades will stop rotating, reducing the risk of injury.
A Constellation of Sensors
Robotic mowers contain several types of sensors that feed the necessary information about their environment.
Typical Integrated sensors include:
- collision sensors
- tilt sensors
- contact sensors
- lift sensors
- ultrasonic sensors that detect obstacles
This information can then be used by the mower’s firmware to navigate.
These safety sensors have been designed to assist the robotic mower to complete its job effectively and efficiently, using the information it is fed regarding its surroundings.
Lift and tilt sensors are a standard feature that activates if the mower is lifted off the ground or tilted beyond 30 to 40 degrees.
Both actions cause the motor to automatically shut off.
Shielded or Hidden BladesThat Only Cut Your Grass
The razor-sharp blades that work on your lawn are guarded and hidden deep with the edge of their chassis.
This prevents children or pets from hurting themselves if they get close to, or touch the robot.
Gps Location Tracking Lets You Know Where the Mower Is at All Times
High specification robotic mowers have onboard GPS that is used for navigation and tracking when they are in operation.
This satellite navigation system is reliant on the mower being exposed to the open sky as it works so that the GPS signal can become fixed on the device.
GPS is ultra-convenient as you can track your mower’s location from your smartphone using a dedicated app.
This provides peace of mind that you know exactly where it is at all times.
Secure the Control Panel of Your Robotic Mower with a 4-digit Pin
The big red stop button and glossy control panels of robotic mowers may be extremely tempting to curious children.
Most mowers can be locked using a 4-digit PIN code that you can program.
This means that the programming and operation of the robotic mower are restricted to those who have the PIN, preventing tampering and theft.
Almost Every Robotic Mower Can Be Alarmed
If you are monitoring your mower from afar, having an alarm is the easiest way to be alerted to problems.
Use the Boundary Wire to Create No-mow Zones for Your Garden
You can set up ‘no-mow’ zones if there are things around your garden or yard that your device needs to avoid i.e. flower pots, swings, trees, etc.
The boundary wire that your mower uses for navigation can be used as a boundary around the high traffic areas of your garden.
The Emergency Button Will Shut off Any Automatic Lawn Mower
The majority of robot mowers contain an emergency stop button which is very visible.
This button will shut off the device with a single push.
Keep In Mind: If you ever feel like your children or pets are at risk, simply push this emergency button. This will shut off the device instantly.
Software and Apps Help You Schedule Mowing When the Garden Is Empty
Your robotic mower can be set up to mow at times when your children and pets are indoors.
You can even program your automatic lawn mower to complete its mowing cycles at night.
This is possible because robotic mowers are quiet and won’t disturb your neighbors.
Injury to Wildlife May Be a Concern
Although care has been taken to include safety features that are great for animals, there have been concerns that automatic mowers can harm or kill garden wildlife.
Though most lawnmowers are safe, some robots were found to be capable of delivering life-threatening injuries to hedgehogs and other small mammals.
The risk of this harm is because hedgehogs are slow-moving after they emerge from hibernation and can be perceived by the robot mower to be grass.
Researchers at Oxford University found that robotic lawnmowers were capable of injuries ranging from bumps and bruises to life-threatening lacerations.
They found small mowers and mowers with retractable blades to be safest.
Rounding Up
To conclude, if you are considering whether you should invest in a robotic mower because of concerns about being around your children or pets, hopefully, your mind has now been put at ease.
These brilliant devices are very safe for children of all ages and pets.
As robotic mower technology becomes more advanced, safety standards will only continue to improve.
