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Lawns, Rants & Robot Mowers | Tech Knowledgy

Barbara & Teja Arboleda Episode 88

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In this episode, Teja goes full rant-mode on the eternal curse of yard work. Barbara has a high-tech solution: robotic lawn mowers. They exist. One is even guided by satellites, but it costs more than your first car.

Barbara and Teja roll through the surprisingly competitive world of robotic lawn care—from fancy GPS-guided lawnbots to slightly more “budget-friendly” options. The real question is: would a cat ride one like it’s a grass-trimming Roomba?

How far will we go for the dream of sipping lemonade while the robots do all the yard work? Tune in and find out.

Find us on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok: @loidunk

SPEAKER_00

As a homeowner. Homeowner? Homeowner. As a homeowner, there are a number of things that I don't really appreciate having to do on a regular basis. One of them is mowing the lawn. I don't like anything about yard work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Yeah. Not a not a yard person.

SPEAKER_00

You when we bought our first house, you were adamant. I am allergic to all things green in the ground. Well, not I didn't believe that at first.

SPEAKER_01

I'm not allergic. I just tend to kill them unintentionally.

SPEAKER_00

You go out and murder plants in the middle of the night?

SPEAKER_01

I don't mean to.

SPEAKER_00

But it I mean just like weeding.

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah, there's so many things that I could think of to do with my time. That is better than that.

SPEAKER_00

As if I don't? As if I can't?

SPEAKER_01

No, well, somehow we get complicated yards. Well, how did we get con? So we started out our first house.

SPEAKER_00

You used to say you were allergic.

SPEAKER_01

We bought our well, I am somewhat allergic, but remember I laid down in the grass and I got a full body rash.

SPEAKER_00

That was psychological.

SPEAKER_01

It was not. Okay, so we buy our first house, and there's all of these beautiful plants there. And I'm looking at them skeptically. And the real estate agent says they're all perennials. So it's really, you know, it is minimal upkeep. You don't really have to do anything. They come up year after year, they're all timed beautifully. It's wonderful.

SPEAKER_00

Timed, meaning that she planted them in such a way.

SPEAKER_01

So the different things like fireworks. Beautiful. Fireworks. Absolutely beautiful. And it was a lie.

SPEAKER_00

A complete lie.

SPEAKER_01

It was a lie.

SPEAKER_00

Because it was a lot of work.

SPEAKER_01

Because we talked to our neighborhood.

SPEAKER_00

There's no way we'd be able to keep that up.

SPEAKER_01

No. And we didn't. And the the the years we owned that house, it started out gorgeous and then slowly started to like deteriorate. We talked to our neighbor. Was it a few months later or something? Who then said, oh yeah, she was out doing out in the yard doing yard work every day.

SPEAKER_00

Single day.

SPEAKER_01

Every day.

SPEAKER_00

Who has that kind of time?

SPEAKER_01

Well, she must have been retired or something. I don't know. Maybe that's it. It has to be that.

SPEAKER_00

Well, yeah, probably.

SPEAKER_01

And then that's how she wanted to spend her time. Whereas I would rather write, read, sing, anything but that.

SPEAKER_00

Me too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

I also don't like the yard work, but I somehow became responsible for all the yard work. And yet what?

SPEAKER_01

And yet.

SPEAKER_00

And yet?

SPEAKER_01

Who ended up having many, many plants somehow planted in our yard?

SPEAKER_00

Who had many plants?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it was your idea to make it all fancy in our in this house.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, in the new house. In this house. Well, it's not new anymore, but um because I need to do something with it. What else are we gonna do? It put concrete down?

SPEAKER_01

No, but now we have, I mean, it's pretty, but it's all kinds of plants that we don't know how to take care of.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. And then there's the grass.

SPEAKER_01

Right, the grass.

SPEAKER_00

I am not an advocate for grass just because of grass. It's like I'm not like gonna put fertilizer down, certainly not any, you know, harsh chemical fertilizer, uh, just so that the grass will come up greener and more and like, you know, I was gonna say fruity, but it's not fruity.

SPEAKER_01

No, no.

SPEAKER_00

Not even fluffy.

SPEAKER_01

I think you know it's um cushiony. Cushiony.

SPEAKER_00

Cushiony. Like I don't need that.

SPEAKER_01

Grass, crab grass, as long as it's green, or as long as it's a lot, green. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

That's fine. It's hard. It's hardy. And hardy. It can withstand the heat, it can withstand the cold. And so, you know, I end up mowing some of it and then using a weed whacker for the rest of it.

SPEAKER_01

And then in California, we saw a bunch of people with those like fake grass.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, they even like spray paint their spray paint their dry grass with with green which that's a little weird. But it makes sense. Because if your only objective is to have green, you don't actually don't know. It's not really well, it's not like they hang out in their yard in LA. It's too hot.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's true. It's too hot.

SPEAKER_00

That's true.

SPEAKER_01

I know. But they're the fake grass stuff.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, and you can't mow fake grass, which is actually better. Just stays that way. Might as well get astroturf.

SPEAKER_01

Which is kind of what it is.

SPEAKER_00

Or like a grass carpet. You know how some people have grass carpets.

SPEAKER_01

Right, but that's what they do. Oh, right. The grass carpet out there.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01

And then they don't have to mow.

SPEAKER_00

But it's much easier.

SPEAKER_01

In the Boston area where winters get sludgy and slushy. Yeah, I'm not sure that would work out so well. But I have found a technological solution.

SPEAKER_00

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01

To your help?

SPEAKER_00

Is it really gonna help me?

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Whenever I hear the word solution, I think money.

SPEAKER_01

Oh.

SPEAKER_00

And then also when is it gonna break? That's what I think. So I know I don't mean to sound skeptical. I just, you know, so what is it?

SPEAKER_01

Robotic lawnmower.

SPEAKER_00

Robotic lawnmower.

SPEAKER_01

It's like a roomba, but for your yard.

SPEAKER_00

May I mall your lawn.

SPEAKER_01

No, it's like a roomba. Like you see the cat sitting on the roomba and all those viral videos. Then you see a cat in a shark. Is it operated by a cat? No. It could be.

SPEAKER_00

Could be.

SPEAKER_01

It could be.

SPEAKER_00

Because it's robotic.

unknown

Right?

SPEAKER_00

So I'm I'm guessing it's got GPS or it's got some kind of a There's one with a little figure of a cat on it that looks like it.

SPEAKER_01

No, I'm just kidding. No, that's not true. But I found I saw an ad and I clicked on it. And this is gonna be a problem because now anytime I log into anything where there are advertisements, I'm probably now gonna get ads for robotic lawn mowers.

SPEAKER_00

You probably I'm probably also gonna be getting yeah, just because I'm talking about it.

SPEAKER_01

Robotic lawn mowers. Robotic lawn mowers.

SPEAKER_00

Who are you talking to?

SPEAKER_01

The algorithm.

SPEAKER_00

The oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So this is amazing, and there's one here that's only thirteen thousand dollars.

SPEAKER_00

What?

SPEAKER_01

No, a thousand three hundred, not no, this one is a fancy one. This is thirteen thousand seven hundred thousand dollars. I think this is not the brand for us.

SPEAKER_00

What what does it do that would like how do you what's the ROI on that?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. Let's see.

SPEAKER_00

Um it's the you better have a very, very big lawn. You better see now you're just gonna get all kinds of answers.

SPEAKER_01

I know.

SPEAKER_00

But you better have a huge lawn, huge like golf course size.

SPEAKER_01

This one.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Satellite guided centimeter level accuracy. What? Without the need for any property specific stationary antennae. Manicures area to nine acres.

SPEAKER_00

See, I said like a golf course. I don't have many acres that would be more than nine acres, I would guess.

SPEAKER_01

Seamless management of every turf complexity.

SPEAKER_00

Really? What about rock?

SPEAKER_01

14 grand.

SPEAKER_00

What about rock?

SPEAKER_01

Well, apparently satellite.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Well, which means that you need access to satellite feedback.

SPEAKER_01

Key features.

unknown

Oh no.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. Oh, teamwork collaborative technology for operating more robots in the same area.

SPEAKER_00

Wait, so they like all like operate together and they they decide which way to go?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Teamwork.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

T M. Teamwork.

unknown

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00

Wait, that's what's that's why it's called TM?

SPEAKER_01

Well, no, I mean teamwork with a capital T and a capital M, but then it and a capital W, but then it's suprascript T M. So this company has now trademarked the work, the word teamwork? Dudes, I don't think so. No.

SPEAKER_00

What? Can I say that?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, teamwork. TM.

SPEAKER_00

Oh wow. They trademarked the word teamwork. We're just gonna use that word teamwork.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna just keep using the word teamwork again. Teamwork!

SPEAKER_00

Teamwork!

SPEAKER_01

Yes, we have good teamwork.

SPEAKER_00

We have great teamwork. Yeah, our teamwork is worth about$14,000.

SPEAKER_01

Amazing.

SPEAKER_00

Our teamwork is monitored by satellite.

SPEAKER_01

It has an integrated obstacle avoidance system. What? So the thing is, this actually sounds really amazing if we had a this, what is this, Star Wars? Okay, you've got to put this picture up here when you see this. This is one of their little things. It's showing the satellites coming down, but it looks like Oh, it's triangulating.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but it looks like lasers, like you know, get out there, get some exercise, have a good breakfast, you know, get your lawnmower going. This is how you get your lawnmower going. Okay, and this is great. And walk around in your yard, enjoy the grass, mow the lawn, because you will enjoy it. I won't.

SPEAKER_01

So clearly, this is too much mower for us.

SPEAKER_00

It's too much mower.

SPEAKER_01

It's too much mower for us. So I went to CNET.

SPEAKER_00

That's crazy. Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. And now CNET has a bunch of other robot lawnmowers that it talks about. And the this was from September 2024, where the author is talking about two years, zero regrets.

SPEAKER_00

My two years, zero regrets.

SPEAKER_01

Robot lawnmower is still worth every penny.

SPEAKER_00

Every single penny.$24,000 in my lawnmower still working fine.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, but apparently.

SPEAKER_00

It missed a blade last week, and I pressed a button, it went back and found that blade and chopped it nice and clean.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, and did it like reference where the rest of the case is? Referenced it like nice. Wow, laser. You gotta look out though, because if there's rabbits in the yard and there's chopping lasers in the room. Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_00

Some rabbits have like half ears. No, because they're like, you know, no, that's I'm just saying it's not looking for all the obstacles. Hey, I you know, why are rabbits in the yard anyway if there's a robot there? If I was a rabbit, I would not want to be near a robot.

SPEAKER_01

Well, next thing you know, the rabbit's gonna be on top of the on the top of the eating carrot.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Wow.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, these are much more reasonable though.

SPEAKER_00

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_01

So we've got the Segway Navimo for$1,300.

unknown

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Does it have satellite technology?

SPEAKER_01

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_00

How does it but how is it robotic then? Does it just memorize where it's gone? Like it is it off book?

SPEAKER_01

I think it it somehow maps it into the thing.

SPEAKER_00

Well, like a like a like a roomba. I was gonna say Zumba. A Roomba.

SPEAKER_01

Well, that that too. That too. So some of them have GPS guidance. And apparently that's better because the author was frustrated with the non-GPS robot mower. These are kind of interesting looking, they're very low profile. See, look at that.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Mamotion Luba 2.

SPEAKER_00

Wow.

SPEAKER_01

It looks it looks very Star Wars.

SPEAKER_00

Mamotion Luba. Luba.

SPEAKER_01

This looks awesome.

SPEAKER_00

Can this also do multiple terrain?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know.

SPEAKER_00

Because uh we have a we live in Massachusetts, and this area is a lot of things. No, but it has a lot of granite and rocks in the ground. And after a very harsh winter, sometimes the rocks emerge because of the way the ground is um you know pushing things up, frost and things like that. And when the rocks are there, before I mow the lawn, I have to go out there and then just kind of clear the path often.

SPEAKER_01

Oh.

SPEAKER_00

But, you know, if it can do that kind of thing, that's cool. But if it can't, then it's just gonna get stuck. Well and what happens if a neighbor's uh robotic lawnmower ends up in your lawn at the mid in the middle of the night, and then the next day they start to fight, and then there's like you know, a whole like fight, fight, fight, fight, fight, and all the area lawn mowers come together. Yeah, yeah, and they've got like a rumble. Instead of a nice clean shaven lawn, you've got like a whole area that's just dirt because they've been fighting all night.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, see what happens all uneven. Yeah, see what happens? That would be terrible.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, you can't rely on robots, yeah. Okay, that'd be like having a robotic uh, you know, like a hair buzzer all the time.

SPEAKER_01

Well, you could do that too.

SPEAKER_00

That'd be interesting. You could do that like a helmet and it goes and it memorizes all the divots in your head. Well, my head.

SPEAKER_01

I wonder if they have that.

SPEAKER_00

That'd be cool. Invent that. Oh, I'll I'll check it out.

SPEAKER_01

Robotic not robit. Robotic hair uh shaver. Cut.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, haircut. Oh, even Roboti haircutting machine. Oh no. Uh it starts weeding your head. And there's a rabbit there. Um fertilizes your head. Miracle grow, of course. And you get like chia growing on your head.

SPEAKER_01

This robot can cut your hair and make small talk.

SPEAKER_00

No.

SPEAKER_01

It was what? I don't know. Shane White and didn't want to get a haircut during the pandemic, so he built a robot to do it for him.

SPEAKER_00

Did Shane ever recover from the pandemic?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know if anyone has seen Shane lately.

SPEAKER_00

That's a shame. So what what it's so they make robotic pool cleaners, you know, that just kind of goes around. Yeah. Like in the movie Galaxy Quest when he ends up back in his pool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Uh Taggart. No, what is it? Yeah. Commander Taggart.

SPEAKER_01

Commander Taggart.

SPEAKER_00

And um it's just kind of like this just kind of going around the pool, just cleaning cleaning up all the debris because he's in LA where there are no plants.

SPEAKER_01

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

Is there a robotic haircutter? There is?

SPEAKER_01

Apparently, I don't know. This this is kind of old now. But remember the Flo V?

unknown

No.

SPEAKER_01

Oh. Oh, is that the thing that pulls your hair? Like a like a. You put it like on a you put it on a on a um vacuum cleaner. Vacuum cleaner, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And it pulls your hair and then it slices your hair.

SPEAKER_01

They still have it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_01

Amazon.

SPEAKER_00

What? They still sell the flow be.

unknown

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my gosh.$280? A professional haircut.

SPEAKER_00

For a vacuum cleaner.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my god. That cuts your hair. The flow bee, but it's made in the USA. Um, I didn't even know that was still a thing anymore.

SPEAKER_00

What's sold separately?

SPEAKER_01

What? Mini VAC sold separately. So it doesn't come with the vaccine. It doesn't come with the back hair. But it comes with all the attachments.

SPEAKER_00

Wow, floby. Well, that guy's hair looks like he uses a flowy.

SPEAKER_01

Family haircuts made easy.

SPEAKER_00

And your pet dog. Don't do your cat, but your pet dog will love flobe pet.

SPEAKER_01

Oh no, but nah. No, your your cat will do something to you if you try to do that to it.

SPEAKER_00

So is it it just it just goes to show that robots now wait?

SPEAKER_01

This looks like the old commercial.

SPEAKER_00

It is the old commercial. In fact, that's still that shirt would not be sold even on Amazon today.

SPEAKER_01

You don't know.

SPEAKER_00

That's an old ad. Wow. Um, but this just goes to show that robots are not yet prime time for things like yards, hair, no, manscaping.

SPEAKER_01

Ooh, yeah, you gotta be careful with that. I mean, talk about terrain. Honey, what are you doing? Rockies. Oh, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, don't worry about it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no. But it looks like these lawnmowers are a thing. So, so you know, I I don't know. Let's see. So CNET here says Segway's Navimo.

SPEAKER_00

Is it made by Segway, the same company that makes it? I think so. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_00

That was a Segway.

SPEAKER_01

Anyway, go on. Um I've never ridden a Segway. I want to, though.

SPEAKER_00

Me too. I do want to write a Segway. Yeah. I have a feeling though that I'd like to. No, you won't.

SPEAKER_01

Flat on my face.

SPEAKER_00

No, it's designed not to unless it loses power. Which again, kind of like the lawn mower, this automatic lawn mower. It's rechargeable. But what if it runs out of power? It's doing 25 acres, and all of its buddies go, I'm done.

SPEAKER_01

No, but this is limited to a quarter acre of mowing.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So that could do our yard.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Okay. There you go.

SPEAKER_01

Right? So. And then found I found the perfect part of my lawn for it after driving it around like an oversized, very slow RC car using my OnePlus open phone as the remote.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, so it's robotic, but you have to attend to it. No, it doesn't sound like the bar.

SPEAKER_01

No, it it it it like maps it or something. No wires are needed. What slower than an RC. I don't know what an RC car. Oh, radio controlled car. But it all wheel drive. Huh? Huh?

SPEAKER_00

You this looks I mean it's a foot the photograph looks great. It looks great, although it's not really all that great. But the photograph looks great.

SPEAKER_01

It's great, but because the guy didn't have to mow it himself.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, but what happens if something goes wrong? Like literally, what if it goes into the neighbor's yard just accidentally because satellites are off or sunflare or whatever there is? And then it ends up in the neighbor's yard and it starts to like kill the rhododendrons in the tulips. Next thing you know, then there's this warfare between the two families, and then they set the robots on each other.

SPEAKER_01

I say that's what homeowner's insurance is for.

SPEAKER_00

It's okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Does it come with a special warranty?

SPEAKER_01

Glue, paste, you put the flowers back together. Lego flowers.

SPEAKER_00

This is why you don't do lawn work.

SPEAKER_01

Lego flowers. But just clip them back together.

SPEAKER_00

Petal comes off, put it They can't even get uh a rover to land on Pluto.

SPEAKER_01

Who's that? What do you mean? When did they try to get a rover to land on Pluto?

SPEAKER_00

They never did. And they won't be able to.

SPEAKER_01

They might.

SPEAKER_00

They might at some point, someday. As soon as they get these robots to work correctly now, I would not trust a robotic lawn mower in our yard. First of all, there's not enough work for it to do. It would get boring.

SPEAKER_01

But you just said that it takes up too much of your time.

SPEAKER_00

It does.

SPEAKER_01

So let the robot's time be taken up.

SPEAKER_00

If I'm gonna spend$1,300 on a robot to do my lawn, sure, if it does it really well. If there's one problem, I'll be like, all right, now I've got to go out and I've got to like finish it.

SPEAKER_01

You see therapy, it'll be okay.

SPEAKER_00

There's one area in a yard front, the front of the house, yeah, with the wall, the the the stone wall.

SPEAKER_01

Yes.

SPEAKER_00

What if it forgets and goes over the stone wall and then down to the ground and it breaks? Or it it it it hits something.

SPEAKER_01

I'd want to give it a name.

SPEAKER_00

A raccoon. Like what?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know. Like Buzzy. I would love to try one of these things.

SPEAKER_00

Right. You you get yourself and you set it up, the robotic lawnmower. And where are you gonna keep it when you're not we're not using it?

SPEAKER_01

I don't know how to set it up.

SPEAKER_00

Oh gosh. There we go.

SPEAKER_01

I'm gonna need you to set it up.

SPEAKER_00

Uh-huh. Next thing you know, I'm fighting with it, and I decide to I get my old push mower. Remember that's the first mower we got for our first house. What? Was a manual push mower?

SPEAKER_01

Oh yeah. I don't know why.

SPEAKER_00

That I had to sell that after a couple of tries.

SPEAKER_01

Yep, because that was not happening.

SPEAKER_00

Was not doing anything productive for me.

SPEAKER_01

Why did you do that? You were so committed to it too. I was like, I am getting a manual push mower. I'm like, okay.

SPEAKER_00

See, I put the man back in manual.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

And then I removed the man from the robotic anything for us right now.

SPEAKER_01

We have to post pictures.

SPEAKER_00

We have to get they gotta perfect that first.

SPEAKER_01

I like the$24,000 one. I don't even trust robotic. It's cute. But yeah, I guess if we're gonna get a robot, it should probably be multifunctional.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it should be able to do more than just mow your lawn. I would want it to do everything.

SPEAKER_01

What if it could mow your lawn and vacuum? It's got indoor-outdoor mode.

SPEAKER_00

So it could go straight from the And cut your hair. Okay. Okay, we're getting somewhere.

SPEAKER_01

And cut your pet's hair.

SPEAKER_00

We're definitely getting somewhere.

SPEAKER_01

Yep.

SPEAKER_00

Definitely getting somewhere.

SPEAKER_01

We are.

SPEAKER_00

Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Not sure where, but we're getting somewhere.

SPEAKER_00

With that cost.

SPEAKER_01

Well, it's all it's all the same thing.$13,799.99.

SPEAKER_00

Plus tax, delivery, insurance, what and you know, the extended warranty. Next thing you know,$21,000.

SPEAKER_01

But look at how cute it is.

SPEAKER_00

You know what else is cute?

SPEAKER_01

What?

SPEAKER_00

A la boo boo.

SPEAKER_01

They're not that cute. They look like the the the the little monster from the wild things.

SPEAKER_00

It does. That's what I thought it was at first.

SPEAKER_01

I did too. I did too. But apparently it's not.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

It is a laboooboo. And that's their story, and they're sticking to it.

SPEAKER_00

Anyway.

SPEAKER_01

And I'm sticking to this.

SPEAKER_00

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01

This is cute. This is tech that is cute and practical.

SPEAKER_00

Meanwhile, I still do the lawn.

SPEAKER_01

Yup.