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The year 2021 marked an important milestone in the evolution and implementation of RTK-controlled robotic mowers. The feedback from users of Belrobotics GPS-RTK robotic mowers, manufactured and installed by Yamabiko Europe, has been extremely positive. And for 2022, Yamabiko Europe is already announcing the addition of important new features that will further increase the level of performance, and consequently user comfort and satisfaction.
‘Conventional’ robotic mowers work by being guided by the positive magnetic signal emitted by the underground cable that demarcates the working area. A robotic mower with RTK technology combines this use of the magnetic field with navigation based on accurate GPS data collected by the RTK base station.
Unlike a normal GPS, this accuracy is no longer calculated in meters, but corresponds to about five centimeters. During installation, the robotic mower records the GPS coordinates of the working area. This process consists of three steps. In the first step, the robotic mower follows the bounding wire of the working area in track border mode. Second, the robotic mower calculates the GPS boundary of the field by filtering the collected data. The third step is a verification of the GPS boundary of the working area approved by the technician.
Once the plot is defined and registered, the robotic mower calculates a mowing pattern based on the GPS coordinates and will follow this pattern to mow the entire area in straight lines. When the battery runs low, the robotic mower returns to its charging station along the boundary wire. Once charged, it returns to the starting point of the last unfinished strip. After a complete mowing cycle of the working area, the robotic mower changes the reference point and modifies the mowing pattern by 45° or 90° to optimize the visual effect obtained.
Previously, communication with the robotic mower was only via Wi-Fi. Now Yamabiko Europe is announcing the ability to use 4G. This means that it is no longer necessary to install a base station near the robot to receive GPS corrections. Thanks to the use of 4G, corrections can be sent over a distance of 10 to 15 kilometers. So a municipality with multiple soccer fields can simply install one base station and use 4G to receive the necessary corrections on the other fields.
Another important new feature is that it will be possible to cover more complex shapes, not just the rectangular shapes of soccer fields or the practice areas of golf courses. Yes, you read correctly, even fairways will be mowed perfectly thanks to RTK technology. And of course, it will also be possible to set up complexly shaped areas within a large working plot.
A third innovative feature is the ability to set ‘no-go zones’ in a work area, that is, to program the robotic mower to go around obstacles in the work area (e.g., a goal post) without having to put a wire around it.
Another new feature is the ability to program the robotic mower via remote control to move within a certain perimeter. This is both convenient and very practical.
In the spring, Yamabiko Europe will install twelve BigMows each in three Dutch municipalities. This is proof of the undeniable success of the RTK robotic mowers in the Netherlands, where ‘value for money’ is a key principle in both business and private transactions. The two current models - the Bigmow 1050, with a mowing capacity of 30,000 m2 and recommended for two soccer fields, and the Bigmow 2050, with a mowing capacity of 60,000 m2 and designed to cut four soccer fields or a fairway of 4 to 5 holes - are very popular in the Netherlands and Germany.
