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Husqvarna's Living City focuses this time on more green in the city and smarter tools
‘Rethinking urban green space.’ That, loosely translated, was the theme of the Living City 2022 trade fair held in London in mid-October. Organizer Husqvarna wants to help green space managers do just that with state-of-the-art time- and money-saving maintenance machines. These are not only increasingly electric, but can also work autonomously or be controlled remotely. Conclusion: green space management is changing and our environment will benefit - and so will we, the people.
Nigel Dunnet is a professor at the University of Sheffield. Not a dull job for him, as he is a nature lover and therefore fond of the just a little wilder (read more natural) planting than we are used to in our cities. As a feat, he even transformed the barren lawn around the Tower of London into an attractive sea of flowers and plants (see photo).
According to Dunnet, it is precisely the naturalization that will do cities good: more color, more diversity, more insects and ultimately more satisfied residents. And his advice: don't mow everything down again too quickly. That may be unfortunate for suppliers of mowers, but it is better for all of us.
Another point of attention is the traditionally close together of buildings, leaving hardly any space between them for green areas. The call to urban planners is actually to sit down with landscape architects more often, so that we move from a dead (petrified) to a living (greener) living and working environment. Not only the health and well-being of residents play a role in this, more and more the necessity of making our cities climate proof is emerging, for example by retaining rainwater longer in green areas (also on roofs) and increasing the absorption of CO2 by planting more trees and not cutting down existing trees too quickly.
It is also clear, that the corona pandemic has given an extra impulse to the policy attention for green space. Working more from home requires a relaxing outdoor space, in which short-term (social) sports and recreational moments are possible.
Husqvarna clearly loves to innovate, as several smart machines and devices were demonstrated during Living City 2022. Among other things, they are designed to manage and maintain large city parks, sports fields, golf courses and even airports and landscaped solar parks. In doing so, the Swedish company takes two perspectives.
The first is electrification, including of mowers. This is a logical step, following on from the switch from gasoline to battery in hand tools. No fumes, no mess, less personal starting power needed and less danger. Plus much less CO2 emissions, of course. In the meantime, the battery has proven itself in terms of power and work durability, and more and more machines and tools can be electrified. Thus, the new Husqvarna BLi-X 36V batteries come with three different capacity levels and feature ActiveCool. They are part of the 525i series of electric grass trimmers and brush cutters, which Husqvarna says will perform as well as the 25cc gasoline-powered products coming to market in 2023.
Second angle is even more interesting, namely: making lawnmowers more autonomous. Husqvarna now calls itself the ‘world leader’ in robotic mowers, and that claim will continue to be fleshed out with new or improved machines in the near future.
Working an embankment with a large mower after a rainstorm involves risks for the driver. So it makes sense to put them safely at a distance and only let the machine do its work on the steep slope (up to 60 degrees!). So the commercial front mower P 524XR EFI got a remote control added in the form of a hip transmitter. There is quick and seamless switching between fixed and remote control. Interestingly, the front mower also picks up spots that are otherwise often skipped - under overhanging branches, for example. The new facelifted X model of the P 524 mower - still with a gasoline engine - also received a new 137 cm wide cutting deck, a digital user interface and built-in Husqvarna Fleet Services connectivity.
Autonomous mowing is more cost-effective, but has always been difficult to implement at large sites such as airports (safety) and solar parks (many obstacles and shielding of GPS signal).
The Autonomous Operation System for Professionals is specifically designed for these difficult situations. It uses a high-precision satellite navigation system that provides enhanced real-time positioning accuracy. The location accuracy is 2-3 centimeters, and as an added safety measure, an operator can maneuver and remotely control the system. The machines operate entirely electrically - in the solar park, of course, on solar power. With a pilot project at a Swedish airport, Husqvarna wants to demonstrate the applicability of this technology.
Especially for large and diverse grass areas, Husqvarna introduces the professional robotic mower CEORA with its lowered new 43L cutting deck. With a capacity of 20,000-25,000 square meters per day, the CEORA can mow up to three normal-sized fairways per day. With its electric cutting height adjustment, the same robotic mower can mow fairways, semi-rough, rough and other sports grounds at cutting heights from 10 to 60 mm.
The self-contained, electrically powered mower saves on maintenance costs and can reduce CO2 emissions by as much as 83% over the life of the machine compared to a diesel-powered Husqvarna P 525DX riding mower (see illustration).
Another improvement is scheduled for 2023: an upgrade of Automower 550 EPOS, the very first robotic mower to use ‘virtual boundary EPOS technology. It no longer needs physical lines, but is digitally assigned a working area, after which it can independently double its mowing capacity to 10,000 square meters per day through systematic mowing. EPOS technology is a high-precision satellite navigation system that delivers 2-3 centimeter accuracy and allows for multiple mowing patterns.
