Ambrogio L60 Review, Manual, and Comparison to Flymo, Miimo and Yard Force Automatic Lawn Mowers

The Ambrogio L60 is a different kind of robot mower.

It's a mower for people who don't want to mess with full-on automation.

There's no boundary wire, for example. Nor is there a charging station.

In essence, this is a mower that replaces a person, even down to the fact that it can only really mow when you can be bothered to take it out of the garage.

Ambrogio L60 Features

For all that, it's a clever box.

It can tell the difference between grass, and not grass; coupled with bumpers that help it figure out if there is an obstacle such as a family pet, small child or tree.

The mower has 4 wheel drive, and can mow for about 3 and half hours on a three hour charge. It just can't get back to it's refuelling point by itself.

That means that if your lawn is big enough that 3:30 of cutting leaves some areas untouched (bearing in mind that the mower covers the ground at random), you have to pick it up, take it inside, and charge it up.

The advantage is that installation is easy. You just drop the mower in the middle of the lawn, press a button, and go about your business.

Ambrogio L60 Manual

The Ambrogio L60 Manual is one of the clearest, and easiest to follow that I think I've seen.

However, that's not surprising, as the robot mower is pretty much plug-in-and-go. There's no messy perimeter wire installation, and for those with a simple garden, not much extra landscaping to do.

On the other hand, it is clear from the manual that if you have ponds, walkways, and flower-beds, that you need to make sure your garden is up to the job.

There are some pretty tight guidelines for things like the height of delimiting curbs, and the kinds of materials that the Ambrogio will recognise as 'not grass'.

The screen needs very little explanation: it's so basic that there's nothing more than some descriptions about starting, stopping, and charging the mower.

The manual, is, in short, as complicated as it needs to be for a device that is clever, yet pretty dumb.

Ambrogio L60 Price

Here's where I have a problem. Price-wise, the L60 sits somewhere between the Flymo 1200R (which I own) and the es of the Honda Miimo or Yard Force machines.

The blades are non-standard, making them more expensive to replace.

For a machine that needs so much manual intervention, I find that the £1,500 plus price tag is a bit excessive.

However, the manufacturer would probably cite the admittedly clever technology that powers the robot in their defence. I have a friend with an earlier model, and for what it's worth, it works.

I just think that, for me, I'd rather have the mower on-call 24/7 than have to haul it around between charges.

Then again, I enjoy messing around with the perimeter wire, too. That's not for everyone; perhaps the Ambrogio L60 will find a market with the less technically inclined gardener whose garden is large, with complex shapes, and yet with well defined boundaries...

Professional Installation Guide: More than just a Robot Mower User Manual!

Regular readers will remember my post on Paradise Robotics, a while back. Now, they have released a new edition of their installation guide for the mowers that they stock - namely Ambrogio and LawnBott models from Zucchetti Centri Sistemi (ZCS).

Written by Kathy Moseler, and first published in 2011, it covers pretty much all the Ambrogio, LawnBott and other ZCS mowers that have been on the market since the early 2000s.

Due to this extensive coverage, it also serves as an excellent getting started guide for anyone interested in buying a robotic lawn mower. In fact, it would be a great accompaniment to any of the manufacturer's official robot mower user manual.

For example, because Ambrogio has followed trends in robot lawn mower design, it discusses models with and without return wires (known as Follow Wire, or On Wire) in a section entitled "Base Return Methods".

The guide has both diagrams (annotated examples from various user guides) as well as photos of real-life gardens, helping to solve the various boundary wire design challenges that lawn mower owners will face.

Given that most mowers have the same basic requirements (except those with GPS), the section covering the installation of a boundary wire would be useful to everyone, and well worth the £20 price tag.

For those who can't afford, or can't find Ambrogio lawn mowers, it also helps to build a picture of the kind of mower that you need -- some of the advanced features of the mowers such as the ability to cross asphalt paths are also covered. In conjunction with our own free Buyer's Guide FAQ, a comprehensive question and answer session can be conducted in-store to make sure you get the most appropriate model.

Not to forget, of course, that online deals can quite often yield huge savings; but as always, it's better to enter into a large online purchase from a reputable store armed wit the right information. Paradise Robotic's "Professional Installation Guide" for robot lawn mowers would make a great starting point!

Robot Mowing in Paradise

Recently, I received a request from Paradise Robotics' owner to mention Ambrogio (formerly LawnBott) mowers on the blog. You'll find them listed on the Robotic Lawn Mower Brand and Model Page, but they definitely deserve a closer look in the future.

Being of a curious nature, I also decided to check out Paradise Robotics and uncovered a treasure trove of listings relate to all kinds of robotic products. They have stuff for hobbyists who like to build their own robots, and products for doing everything from cutting grass to cleaning pools.

One thing that the Paradise Robotics site has is a comprehensive set of LawnBott / Ambrogio mower upgrade guides, ideas, and products.

What I found especially interesting was the software update guide for older LawnBotts, giving users access to features that were built into mowers up to 2009, not to mention an expensive - but probably worth it - upgrade package to take your LawnBott and give it a complete overhaul.

They'll change motors, bump sensors, fit better wheels, replace the chassis and probably even do a software upgrade if they can!

Regular readers will know that of the various things that can go wrong, wheels and bump sensors are the two things I've had to replace, so I'd encourage you to at least consider using such a service.

For those of you who have yet to take the plunge, then check out the Buyer's Guide FAQ for help on deciding if a robot mower is right for you, and how to choose the best one!