I’m in a park. The grass is being mown by a robot.
I’m in a park. The grass is being mown by a robot.
We thought the rider fell off or something and it was going to crash. Then it turned and kept mowing. Park Roomba!
Another picture:
Automation isn't the enemy.
As ever, the owner class that hoards and wages economic war on you though automation for their exclusive benefit at their society's expense are your enemy, whether you would fight them or not.
Arguing that we should "save" back breaking, repetitive unnatural movement, manual labor jobs that break human bodies by the time they're 40 is the WRONG hill to die on. Fight for the citizenry to reap the benefits of automation through taxation, not to keep shitty jobs robots can do faster and better. Fight to change the economy so that everyone doesn't need meaningless jobs machines can do better so we can have actual time to live our lives.
Taxing the fuck out of automation would let everyone win, because a heavily taxed robot is still far cheaper for the company than a human or possibly several humans for that one robot would be, so automation is here either way. We can riot to change our economy to benefit from this technology as we should, or we can be steamrolled yet again by the dictates of the affluent who will demand and get all the benefits and none of the responsibility if not confronted and countered on revolutionary terms.
Please pick the former. There's no dignity or meaning to be had shuffling boxes around in an Amazon warehouse. Begging the owners to let us try to continue to compete with literal purpose built repetitive labor machines is not the way.
Fun fact: The Luddites weren’t opposed to technology. In many cases, they built the machines they would later destroy.
What they opposed was the ownership structure. The fact that they could be 30x more productive, yet be paid less than before because the required skill level was lower, and the working conditions were now dangerous and demeaning.
Yet when someone says “luddite” now, what do you think? A dummy who’s afraid of having cool stuff?
Good points, but I have one thing to add. You shouldn't tax automation. You should increase corporate taxes for all companies. If you funded a UBI with that, it would solve lots of unemployment related problems: crime, poverty, etc. But it's hard, simple but hard.
Put the corporate tax rate back up to 40% or more and implement a 10% robot tax on top of that. Then after that, implement a UBI starting at $1000 a month for US citizens with no strings attached, increasing with inflation over time. Solved for the next decade.
The top marginal tax rate should be 100%. The bottom marginal tax rate should be negative.
Now do AI!
It's too bad that the first things to be automated are the tasks that people don't mind doing, leaving the real shitty tasks to be done by people. Riding around on a lawnmower has to be one of the most enjoyable forms of manual labour. Now the robots get the good jobs and we're left with the backbreaking monotonous bullshit.
Are these the immigrants that are stealing all our jobs?
This is what people should be fearing. Studies have shown that when immigrants come in and “take jobs”, they pay taxes, and buy goods to create a life here, effectively replacing the job they took (since we need people who make beds for them to sleep in, food for them to eat, etc).
This is automation that’s ACTUALLY taking our jobs. This automation doesn’t pay taxes, and doesn’t replace the job it takes.
Very true, but let's also keep in mind that automation doesn't have to be a social evil. If our economic and political systems were better oriented toward lifting up society's disadvantaged and keeping extreme individual/family wealth in check, automation could benefit all. With better social safety nets (or a UBI), government-sponsored job training (perhaps paid for by taxes on automation), and incentives for starting small businesses, automation could mean less human drudgery in the workforce, and more efficient economic outcomes for all.
I'm not optimistic about that given our track record as a species, but it's possible.
You sure the automation doesn’t pay taxes…?
I have heard an idea floated around that the companies that make these types of automation devices would pay massive taxes on them, and that tax would pay for UBI. I'm not sure how the math works, but to me that sounds like the ultimate endgame. Then we can all enjoy our lives without needing to do tedious or backbreaking work.
They took our jerbs!
My curiosity got the best of me, here's the link to Wright: https://www.wrightmfg.com/products/mowers/commercial/stand-on/robotic-zk/
The Mower
- 40HP Vanguard Engine
- Hydro-Gear Smartec Drive-By-Wire 12cc
- 15.5 Gallon Fuel Capacity
- Centimeter-level accurate RTK GPS
- Commercial-grade Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)
- Depth-sensing object detection cameras
- Rock-solid wireless emergency stop
- Remote control mode
- Live Greenzie support: Call for support while in the field for real-time fixes.
The Software
- Mow the boundary once, and the mower fills in the rest
- Remembers maps and can repeat them when you come back. Just place it in the previous boundary.
- Create no-go zones that will be saved with your map to avoid hitting hard-to-see obstacles like drain covers or small pipes sticking out of the ground.
- Record and repeat: Record yourself mowing the entire property, and the mower will replicate your movement.
- Manage the mower with the controller or a smart device in real-time.
- Advanced fleet support: See how your fleet is performing. Replay entire jobs, not just a dot on the map.
- Run multiple units at once.
- Set the stripe angle (for those stunning cross-hatch patterns)
- Seamless automatic updates
Damn, $45k. Though I guess for something like a park it probably has a pretty quick ROI.
I built an autosteer called AgOpenGPS for our tractors that pretty much does this. Cost about $1000 per unit. We still sit in the tractor because there's a hell of a lot going on besides steering the tractor, but it will drive the entire field without intervention.
Fields generally have few, if any, objects to consider. I'm not sure this is comparable.
At a quick glance on that site I didn't see any information about safety. Did you come across anything?
I guess there is the line about object sensors, but would like to know a little more before deploying something with rotating blades (which is still pretty cool, don't get me wrong)
It's very safe. Any orphans caught in the blades won't do any harm to the mower.
Okay somehow the words rock solid wireless emergency stop seem oxymoronic. I don't care how it was programmed what wireless communication system uses or anything else. I have a hard time believing wireless emergency stops can be foolproof.
We know they can't. Unfortunately the target demographic for this mower probably doesn't care if the e-stop works.
Never seen a gas powered automatic lawnmower, only electric ones.
This is the size of a huge riding mower you only see used by parks departments and the like.
[deleted]
You in the US?
Robot lawn mowers are very common in Europe. You'll see these small electric mowers in people's yards all over the place. Businesses also have them running all day out front. Never seen one in the US.
They are equipped with GPS, so they are locked to a specific area to prevent theft.
I saw this for the first time in Brussels! Our Airbnb host got a kick over how enthralled 3 American women were over the idea of a lawn roomba 😂.
I am in the U.S., yes.
GPS are very fancy ones, unless that's changed since I last looked into it. A buried wire, "invisible fence", has been the norm for all consumer grade ones I've seen.
"Charles, where'd the puppy go?" Sees this thing
Cricket‽
Reminds me of this meme:
How many mowers do you think you could get your hands on before they catch you?
Probably one. I would imagine they have some kind of GPS on these.
You can see the little disks antenna on top.
I don't know that I could fit it in my car.
we can prob balance it on my skate board and we can tow it.
I had a job offer at a place that makes robotic lawnmowers, but they required you to go to Florida and Texas every year for “field testing”. We have sunshine 300 days a year here, and we also don’t have barbaric laws stripping people of their rights, so I turned it down.
That's one expensive goat.
I don't mean this in a negative way but I swear you're like the Gallowboob of Lemmy, see you everywhere.
Contributors that don't post like bots stick out
Him and the Picard maneuver
He's got some personal issues.
ok what happens if this hits a child though?
I imagine they would make excellent fertilizer.
Plays Circle of Life from Lion King
I feel like things like this should have their safety system as public review of sorts, like a safety system public domain. Assuming this is on public property, but also if you sell to the general public too? It's a pipe dream anway. It's just interesting.
Don't disturb the wildlife.
I think I would have a genuinely hard time not messing with this or trying to ride it. Both which are objectively terrible ideas nonetheless it feels really tempting.
Or hacking it to mow a symbol of "I thought what I'd do was I'd become one of those deaf mutes".
I wonder if it is CAN bus? I bet it is, maybe it even has an unsecured OBD port. It might be super easy to get into its computer. If this would let you turn off or change its wireless connection you could have full control. If nothing I am sure this would mess with the GPS map and get it to do some weird mowing.
If it does have an OBD port they make over the counter wifi and Bluetooth dongle. So all you would do is give it an unexpected obstacle, wait for it to pause and pop the dongle in.
Seeing this picture, my first instinct was to tell op to stand in front of it. Worst that happens is an easy paycheck.
Run and grab a package of hotdogs and we can finally get the answer to an age old question.
Put a pile of sticks halfway between a mowed area and an area that hasn't been cut.
Draw a line right in the middle of the camera lense? If that doesn't do anything then a stick person?
Throw a tennis ball in its path and see what happens. It must be safe, right? Right‽
Tactical EMP’s are necessary now.
My dog is super fascinated by lawn mower robots. Every time we see one he has to stand and watch for a couple of minutes. I wonder how he'd react to one of this size. Interestingly, he doesn't care much for our robot vacuum. For the most part he avoids it, sometimes he lays down in its way and freaks out when it bumps into him.
My crazy dog has always wanted to bite the push mower whenever it moves. I suspect he thinks it growls at him. He's fine until it starts moving, then he goes crazy. Naturally he's contained for his safety when mowing takes place.
Took ‘er jerbs
I'm a bit late to the party, but you can buy small ones of these for your own yards:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-Robotic-Lawn-Mower-1-2-Acre-To-1-Acre/5014505685I've seen a couple of these on smallish business lawns.
My Landroid is cool. AMA I guess?
I spent a few days working at a house with 4 of the Husqvarna versions. I had a really good time watching them all take off and do a route and dock all minding their own business. The really cool part is you never even see your grass grow because it's always being maintained.
I've seen the small ones, but I totally didn't expect that.
I've never seen a big one like that either.
I'm guessing its mortal enemy is the beach towel.
If it uses actual blades and is not a glorified string trimmer a simple piece of guy wire will jam it
First thing I thought of was "Maximum Overdrive ". Loved that movie when I was a kid.
"You sure make love like a hero."
"This machine just called me an asshole."
Going to need you to lay down in front of the mower to see if it stops.
The public demands to know.
It's more likely remote controlled. There's probably a guy with a controller near by. They've been around for a couple of decades now, but are generally only used where an angle is too steep or too close to a highway or cliff face.
From another reply:
https://www.wrightmfg.com/products/mowers/commercial/stand-on/robotic-zk/
Seems it's fully Self-driving (at least, following a map/defined boundaries)
There was a guy who brought it over, but he was not using a remote control. It was automated.
I don't get it, don't you guys have a lawn bot at home? Who in their right mind would mow their lawn by hand these days? Sure, this is scaled up by a considerate amount, but its the same technology (though I imagine this boy uses beacons for navigation as opposed to gps or wire).
TIL of the existence and proper use of the word mown
Seriously? Even the lawn mower guys get to work from home now?
Literally Lawnmower Man.
Wow I didn’t know they were commercially available. That is so cool!
Parkba!
For the curious https://youtu.be/t1__h7vnnKY?si=K-RBu5beMPJYNNMn
Here is an alternative Piped link(s):
https://piped.video/t1__h7vnnKY?si=K-RBu5beMPJYNNMn
Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.
I'm open-source; check me out at GitHub.
Starts of nice and calmly, then the editor goes full on with the metal music thrashing for the title sequence. What a trip!
Sad really. Somebody lost a job to that. Minimum wage probably, but still a wage.
That's the jobs that robots should be replacing people with.
Nah, the guy was still there. He had to bring the robot to the place where it had to mow the lawn and he was observing it to make sure it didn't fuck up. Plus, I'm sure he still had to do stuff like weed whacking, so his job is safe for the time being.
Somebody gained a job programming and servicing that mow-bot; maybe even a whole team. Maybe the original driver wrote the path and manages it now.
I get the sentiment, and agree that there's value in keeping labor jobs reserved for people who need them, but using automation isn't inherently evil.
When my company moved our production operations to automatic lines and robots, they promoted everyone to machine operators, taught new skills, and paid out more. It may not be the way every company handles the change, but it can be done, and it's a better path forward than forcing people to accept a life of hard labor.
I remember placing some large equipment in China some decades ago. There was a crane onsite but instead of using it the Chinese insisted on using many men with bamboo poles. We thought it was odd and hilarious that they had to do such make-work. Now here we are. This is why I litter and don't put my shopping cart away. People need jobs.
Oh no, instead of someone doing mindless busy work, they can now live their own lives all day with no loss in productivity what so ever!
Whatever shall we dooooo!
that's not a fucking combusion engine is it? a robot mower that runs on gasoline would be the stupidest thing i've seen in a while.
Why?
Pure electric mowers have gotten really good. Even for a more industrial-sized mower like that which covers a lot of land, there's not much reason that any new mower should be gas.
When it comes to robot mowers, all the more so. Even if it can't handle the entire area all at once, that's OK, it's a robot. Program it to do one area, go back to charge, then do another.
You can't automate them getting gas without serious safety risks.
Which you can do with electricity.
Meaning, you still will need someone to go around with a gas can to make sure they are all running.
It is a combustion engine for sure.
Am I alone in thinking it should be "is being mowed" because "mown" is a resultant property of the grass? Like being melted and being molten. Or is it one of these things non-native speakers develop a keen intuition for to be able to spot it just to be blind-sided by native speakers not giving a fuck.
I mowed the lawn, the lawn was mowed, has already been mowed... a freshly-mowed lawn. I'm not sure if I'd ever actually use "mown" as a conjugation of "to mow".
Me either, but either word is correct to use.
It's a past participle.
e.g. "The park or meadow having been newly mown, had an air at once ornamented and natural."
"An 82-year-old great-grandad survived being mown down by a car"
"Mowed" and "mown" are both correct, but I would never use "mown", myself.
non-native speakers develop a keen intuition for to be able to spot it just to be blind-sided by native speakers not giving a fuck
Yes, that happens.
But does not seem to be, in this case.
don't like that.
This better not have put someone out of the job
It didn't. The guy was still there to get the robot to its location and make sure it was working all right and I'm guessing he still had other maintenance to do in the park beyond mowing. But he did get to stay out of the sun on a hot day.
i'm more worried about giving robots literal weapons but that's also a very good point too.
I was going to make a morbid joke about the driver having already fallen off and into the blades before you took the photo, but the fact that there's no seat on that mower defeated that plan.
The lack of seat is why they fell off!
The lack of seat is why they fell off!
Not bad, not bad at all.
Happy Wheels?
I was there with a group of parents and kids for a teen meetup. We did think he fell off at first. Then it turned by itself and we were all like "wtf?"
Well I'm glad it ended up being automated.
Why is that worth a post? I suspect there are more lawn robots here in Germany than Dads mowing the lawn. Also, you don't want to know what those things typically do to Sonic's babies if they are programmed to mow at night.
It's mildly interesting if you're from a country that doesn't use these, i.e. the US.
I suppose that's why it's posted in mildly interesting?
I admit, it's very impressive and cool to see in person, but at what cost? This particular instance has taken away someone's job. There is no human remotely controlling it. Now imagine how many of these are currently out there and will be deployed in near future? For each one there is someone's income being taken away. Sure, we can argue that this autonomous machine has create jobs becuase, some had to build it. Yes, it's true, but those hired to manufacture are fraction of the lawnmowers needed to cut grass not one but throughout the spring had summer seasons. In a broader context, this is becoming an issue for many low skill jobs and essential jobs. (i.e. self-checkouts at fast foods and other retailers, security posts in airports, malls, etc.) Look up Amazon Digit to see what amazon is up. While many will find it beneficial and this is really hurting the class that needs the money the most, needs the health benefits that comes from there income.
Mowing lawns are boring and you look at it the wrong way. In a better future less people have to work their ass off, enjoying more free time to do whatever they want to do. Maybe spend time with your kids, go out fishing, hiking, do whatever. This is a future I want to see and the more jobs "lost" to robots, the better.
Now for this to be true there have to be large changes in how everything works. Basic income is one thing for example. Nobody should be suffering over not working their ass off but we are not there yet and today exactly as you say, there is probably someone who doesn't need more money just getting more cash in their account instead, sadly.
This, we really need to steer the world in the right direction for these automation improvements to actually benefit all of us.
I share this sentiment, however, you are talking about the system wide change. This is a long-term solution or a mid-term with revolution. I am talking about in the context of the current social and economical environment where no such system exisit. First there needs to an effort to more towards eliminating human labor for the benefit of the people BEFORE human labor is eliminated. Corporations and the rich do not care about the former. We cannot fall into this trap. AI and autonomous machines can be great for society as long as it is not at the cost of the working class. Technology is there or fast approaching, but society is not, policies are not. Corporations are.
Who the fuck is sad that they can't mow a lawn for a living? There are better things they could be doing.
A tale as old as the industrial revolution
Gas powered lawnmowers already reduced the number of people needed to mow lawns, are we supposed to be against those as well?
Oh no, instead of someone doing mindless busy work, they can now live their own lives all day with no loss in productivity!
Whatever shall we dooooo!