European robot lawnmower owners will probably find that number a bit disconcerting. After all, uptake has been brisk,and I know plenty of people who have, or are looking to buy a robotic lawnmower as a replacement for their old gas guzzler.
Robotic Lawnmower Security Features
It's worth noting that there are essentially three kinds of robotic lawnmower:- Grass sensing;
- Perimeter wire;
- GPS trained.
As pointed out in "The Perils of a Robot Lawnmower with No Perimeter Wire" one of the issues of the first kind is that they can be easily stolen and re-purposed elsewhere.
The GPS trained mowers have the advantage that, if stolen, they can be tracked. However, this also requires that they are communication enabled, too, which usually means a privately monitored service (such as those available for newer cars) or effectively giving the mower the robot equivalent of a mobile phone.
(It's worth noting that the article points out that recovery of several of the mowers was down to the fact that they contained GPS locator units -- expensive, but worth the extra cost.)
A perimeter wire solution, however, also ensures that the mower can't be used anywhere else, and is a relativity standard and cost-effective solution to the problem of both limiting the mowing area, and securing the mower.
In addition, most mowers come with PIN codes and alarms, plus a sticker that warns would be thieves that the device is protected. Stealing one would cause the alarm to go off, and it would be useless without the PIN, and doubly useless without the coded base station which is very hard to remove once set up.
The fact that 6 out of 12 robot mowers were stolen in Dallas would seem to indicate that there is a certain lack of education in the market around just how secure these devices are. The article itself seems to agree, citing a Robomow representative's experience that "robotic mowing companies are still educating American customers and answering questions."
Security was one concern, but other factors cited in the piece include the statement that "installation can be a headache"; something that readers of this blog will disagree with -- after all, it's just about preparation and research, something which the mower companies need to spend a bit more time on.
Having said that, we have our own Robotic Lawn Mower Buyer's Guide FAQ which you can download for FREE, and which will help you decide which mower to buy, how best to install it, and all the questions you need to be able to answer (and ask!) before you buy and install your mower.
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