Officials unveil city’s first driverless mowers

The newest additions to Edmonton’s lawn care fleet look somewhat like large Roombas with headlights. They’re less than a metre across, one hand high, and move at a slower-than-walking pace.

Two electric, driverless mowers are on a pilot run at Coronation Park’s soccer field where they will mow the grass for the rest of the summer, said Olivier Le TynevezDobel, the City of Edmonton’s supervisor of turf and sports fields, at a media demonstration Wednesday.

If the pilot is successful, the mowers will be used in areas risky for the current fleet, such as around ponds, on slopes, and near power lines, Le Tynevez-Dobel said.

The mowers take up to two days to cut a whole soccer field in the city’s west end using GPS to navigate, moving slower than an average walk. Sensors in the front of a mower detect if there is anything — or anyone — in the path. If there is something in the way, the mower will gently bump into the object and turn around.

The resulting grass clippings are about three millimetres long, allowing them to be left on the field on the field, Le Tynevez-Dobel said. No bags are used.

Le Tynevez-Dobel said the total cost for the Coronation Park automatic mowing setup is around $20,000.

Each mower costs $4,500, and other expenses come from setup and maintenance.

ED KAISER City turf team member Maurice Pelletier uses his phone to send commands to Edmonton’s first electric driverless lawn mowers.