Robotic lawn mowers are becoming increasingly popular among gardening enthusiasts due to their diligence, convenience and independence. What sets the Automower 550 EPOS apart from other mowers?
If you’ve ever had to organize your surroundings, whether at home or at work, you’ve probably heard of robotic lawn mowers. These are high-tech devices that automatically take care of mowing and caring for the lawn with the help of a border cable. It looks great, doesn’t it? Why spend hours and hours maintaining your garden when a robotic assistant can do it for you? Its advantages (independence, shear quality, almost zero maintenance) are hard to resist, so more and more families and organizations are leaning towards automating environmental maintenance.
Like other areas, the development of robotic lawn mowers is progressing unsustainably. But what is the next evolutionary stage for truly autonomous robotic lawn mowers? Until now, classic robotic lawnmowers required a boundary cable to define the boundaries of the working surface. They have proven to be a reliable solution, as we in the editorial office have been testing this type of robotic lawn mower for more than a decade and there have been no major problems so far. Motorized lawn mowers are not prone to damage, but an accident can occur to the boundary wire, which is replaced by a forest animal for a snack or destroyed while aerating the lawn. Husqvarna, who had been cultivating their love of landscape since 1689, decided to put an end to it.
They introduced the Husqvarna Automower 550 EPOS robotic lawn mower, which cuts cables and befriends satellite navigation. We’ve had the opportunity to take a closer look at how it works, what it needs to work and what it means to keep lawns.
-
reference station -
EPOS Technology
What is EPOS technology?
Before installing, let’s first explain what drives the Automower 550 EPOS. The answer lies in the name itself. EPOS or Precision Positioning Operating System is an innovative satellite technology for creating virtual boundaries and controlling a robotic lawn mower. However, this is significant as users can finally get rid of border cables. However, the absence of physical elements permanently eliminates cable damage due to ventilation or lawn repair. This simple and flexible solution is ideal for maintaining larger spaces, such as football fields, golf courses, parks, commercial properties and also larger private lawns.
All you need to get it working is a reference station (more on that later), the EPOS app, and an unobstructed sky view. Why it should be without a hitch, let’s take a look at a working example.
How to install Automower 550 EPOS?
The pre-sale process is slightly different from the usual. Because the flawless operation of EPOS technology depends on the shape of the lawn, Husqvarna experts first examine your surroundings. They record the number and type of obstructions, the size of the lawn area, the optimal location for the reference setting and the charging station.
The reference station, which takes care of the communication between the satellite, the charging station and the robotic lawn mower, must be placed in a position where the receiver can be seen unobstructed by the orbiting satellites. Otherwise, the automatic lawn mower may hit dead zones, rendering it unable to do its job. This is a defect in the satellite connection, which can be controlled by the optimal protective position of the reference station.
In a private apartment building where the Automower 550 EPOS robotic lawn mower was installed, the optimal location was on the roof. The house stands at slightly higher elevations, is not restricted to woodland, and with a higher reference station setting, they ensured that the reliability of the satellite connection would be optimal no matter the location of the robotic lawn mower.
This was followed by the installation of a charging station. Interconnection allows the robotic lawn mower to automatically calculate the most efficient path to the connection point at the charging station. He adjusts his return so that no traces appear on the surface of the lawn.
Setting virtual boundaries
It’s time for the most exciting part of preparation. The expert took over the manual control of the robotic lawn mower. There are two apps available: Husqvarna Fleet Services for remote monitoring and status review of the entire fleet of robotic lawn mowers and Automower Connect to manage all 550 EPOS robotic lawn mowers.
At Automower Coonect, a Husqvarna expert opted for the appDrive feature, which allows manual control to create a virtual map or drive the robot between areas that don’t need processing. While a human hand guided the robot over a length of approximately 3,500 meters2 Large area (maximum coverage up to 5000m2), the satellite connection took care of the construction accuracy of 2 to 3 centimeters. While simulating the work surface virtually, we ran into a dead end on the first try in the farthest part of the house. However, the strength of a satellite’s connection depends on the location of the satellites (which are constantly orbiting the Earth), the reference station, weather, and other obstacles. The first map may be incomplete, but don’t worry about it. The Automower 550 EPOS is a smart robotic mower that automatically fills any gaps over time.
Also in our case, the expert was able to map the most problematic part of the estate on the second try without any major problems.
Mowing time: How was the fare for a robotic lawnmower?
Robotic mowers are known for their precision cuts, as evidenced by the 550 EPOS. When mowing the lawn, small, sharp razor blades are inserted under the motorized lawn mower to cut the tips of the stems precisely and thinly, while conventional mowers usually bounce or tear the ends. In the short term, you won’t notice a difference between mowing methods, but in the long run, your garden will be more lively, as clean cuts will prevent browning tips.
Husqvarna Automower parts at random. This is important for two reasons: mowing is more accurate and therefore the lawn is more aesthetically pleasing. You can create different zones (including forbidden zones) in the app and set the cutting height for each of them. We were lucky during testing as we experienced a rare sunny day without a drop of rain. However, the Automower 550 EPOS also easily overcomes slippery surfaces, various weather conditions and slopes of up to 45%, which it proved when it had to contend with a smaller hill if it wanted to return to the charging station.
What about security?
You definitely want a robotic lawn mower just to mow your lawn and not every passerby can “borrow” it. Any theft attempts will be prevented by the automated lawnmower itself, which has built-in GPS tracking. In the event that a robotic lawn mower is accidentally picked up and taken outside the specified default limits, a loud alarm will be activated, which can only be stopped using a PIN code, and at the same time you will receive a notification of the event on your mobile device.
What about safety while operating the mower? You won’t pause from games and hanging out with friends just to mow the lawn, and you won’t even have to. If you approach the mower in a moment of neglect, nothing will happen. Since the short, sharp blades are placed right in the middle of the robot, it won’t have a chance to hurt your limbs. Even if you lift the robot while it is running, it will automatically stop before you move your hand near the blades.
Therefore, the Automower 550 EPOS robotic lawn mower is extremely safe, accurate, autonomous and also economical, as it uses only a small portion of its power to work with the Intelligent Battery Management System (BMS) compared to conventional lawn mowers.
If you are tired of the daily mowing and noise of a classic mower, visit www.husqvarna.com/si/najdi-prodajalca, choose your nearest point of sale and arrange to see your area.
