Segway Navimow i215 evaluate: The robotic mower that makes setup easy

Robotic mowers promise much less yard work, however getting one able to mow is commonly an ordeal. Older fashions require you to run a fringe wire across the fringe of the garden so the mower is aware of the place to cease. That may imply staking the wire down, burying it, or working round backyard beds, bushes, walkways, and different obstacles earlier than the mower ever cuts a blade of grass. Some newer GPS/RTK mowers keep away from the wire, however nonetheless want an antenna positioned someplace within the yard to enhance positioning accuracy.

The Navimow i215 LiDAR does away with each of those hurdles. It makes use of an on-board LiDAR module and an AI-assisted imaginative and prescient system to map the garden, detect edges, and acknowledge obstacles, making set up far much less concerned than conventional robotic mowers. It’s designed for lawns as much as 0.37 acres and slopes as much as 45 p.c. Navimow provides the i215 an IP66 weather-resistance score, that means it’s sealed in opposition to mud and might deal with rain or spray from a hose.

Segway Navimow i215: Setup

Whereas the i215 removes probably the most annoying a part of establishing a robotic mower, it nonetheless requires a little bit of preparation. Step one is putting in the charging dock. Navimow recommends putting it on stage floor, with about 6.6 toes of open area in entrance and 1.6 toes on both sides. You additionally must hold the ability cable out of the mower’s path, which I achieved by setting the dock on concrete adjoining to my garden. For garden placements, the i215 consists of floor screws to anchor the dock and pegs to safe the ability cable and hold it out of hurt’s approach.

My mower arrived with a couple of 50 p.c cost, and the app requires greater than 50 p.c battery earlier than mapping. I set the mower on the dock to cost whereas I linked it to the Navimow app. The app immediately acknowledged the mower and prompted me to attach it to my Wi-Fi, which took simply a few minutes. However then I needed to wait by two firmware updates, which added about 20 minutes to the setup course of. By the point the updates have been completed, the battery had cleared the brink and I may begin mapping.

The app provides two mapping choices: auto and handbook. With auto mapping, the mower scans the environment to detect edges, objects, and distance. Guide mapping requires you drive the mower across the boundary your self and might be greatest used if auto mapping has bother with a selected garden form, edge, or passage. As a result of my mowing space is one steady garden, I went the auto-mapping route.

That stated, even auto mapping requires a little bit hands-on driving. The app instructed me to make use of two on-screen joysticks to steer the mower out of the dock and onto the garden till it acknowledged grass. At that time, it prompted me to mark the realm as zone one. The app then gave me the choice to create extra zones, which might be helpful for separate grass areas divided by pavement, mulch, or one other non-mowing floor. I skipped that step and let the i215 start mapping.

From there, the mower took over, driving the perimeter of the garden and constructing the boundary because it went. Throughout auto mapping, the mower stays about 11.8 to 19.7 inches contained in the garden’s edge, then optimizes the ultimate boundary afterward.

As soon as the map is full, the app enables you to refine it with boundaries, no-go areas, channels between separate zones, VisionFence-off zones for spots the place the mower’s vision-based impediment detection will get in the way in which, and MowGate channels for Navimow’s non-obligatory gate accent. I didn’t want all of these instruments for my check garden, however they’re notable for offering a option to handle downside spots with out remapping the entire yard.

Segway Navimow i215: Efficiency

Earlier than mowing, I needed to do the standard yard examine. I picked up a couple of twigs and a stray softball that had been left within the grass, then checked the slicing top within the app. The i215’s max slicing top is 4.0 inches, so I left it there for the primary run fairly than threat the mower taking off an excessive amount of without delay. Finally, I lowered it to three.2 inches.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

My check space measured 7,645 sq. toes or roughly 0.18 acres. This included slopes, bushes, naked patches, mulch borders, fencing, and a play construction sitting in the course of the yard. The mower began by tracing the perimeter, then moved inward with every move. It dealt with the terrain effectively, working round obstacles and by no means wandering into areas it wasn’t presupposed to mow.

The one bother spot was a slender strip between the raised fringe of the grass and a fence. Throughout mapping, the mower averted that drop-off because it stored barely contained in the garden’s edge. Throughout mowing, although, it labored nearer to the ultimate boundary and slipped off the grass into that area a few occasions, requiring me to rescue it. I confirmed with Navimow that the mower doesn’t use a devoted “cliff sensor” like many robotic vacuums do. These sensors sometimes level right down to detect sudden floor-height adjustments, making them problematic when the bottom top is continually altering. On this case, the mower seemed to be following the mapped boundary. The bodily edge simply gave it little or no room for error.

As soon as I set it again on the garden, it regained its place and resumed mowing, delivering a clear, even minimize throughout the mapped space.

Segway Navimow i215: App expertise

The Navimow app retains a very powerful mowing data and controls on the primary display screen. Throughout a mowing job, it exhibits the i215’s place on a reside map, together with battery stage, connection standing, and the way a lot space it has coated. Massive Cease and House buttons are inside thumb’s attain ought to it is advisable finish a job earlier than it’s full.

Different options could be configured by the settings menu. Along with reducing the mower’s slicing top, I additionally used the app to set schedules, change between Precision and Environment friendly mowing modes, and handle options similar to VisionFence and weather-adaptive mowing.

Michael Ansaldo/Foundry

The app additionally introduces Navimow Join+, the subscription service behind the mower’s built-in 4G options. It provides the i215 a mobile connection for distant monitoring and anti-theft capabilities when the mower is exterior Wi-Fi vary. Navimow consists of the primary yr of Join+ service, however after that it prices $32.90 per yr.

Do you have to purchase the Segway Navimow i215?

The Navimow i215 retails for $1,599, and also you’re principally paying for the expertise that makes a distinction earlier than you begin mowing: no perimeter wire, no exterior antenna, computerized mapping, and app-based management. That’s a horny proposition in the event you’ve been interested by robotic mowers, however delay by the set up course of.

It’s an excellent higher worth in case your garden has some complexity. A flat, open rectangle of grass might not want this a lot mower. The i215 makes extra sense for yards with a number of sections, bushes, slopes, shade, and different options that may journey up easier robotic mowers. For these lawns, it’s simple to advocate.