Lessons from a Lawn-Mowing Robot

Let me be clear: this is not a review of the Mammotion Luba Mini AWD. If you’re looking for advice on what robot lawn mower to buy, go read this piece from The Verge or this other from The Wirecutter. 

Instead, I brought robots into my home to answer one big question: Can AI and machines finally take over the jobs we actually want them to? Yes, house chores. 🏡

Now, let me be clear about something else. I am a mom, but I approach my lawn with the same energy of every suburban dad I know. I want it green. I want it even. I want it free of dog poop and kids toys.  

Also: mowing the lawn? Not technically my job. I have a guy. But I wouldn’t mind paying the guy a little less, and I definitely wouldn’t mind if the lawn got cut more often. Especially in the spring and summer, when it grows like it’s gunning for a Guinness World Record.

Here are my biggest lessons from my last few weeks with a robot-mower.

• It’s good at AI things. The $1,599 Mammotion Luba Mini AWD uses GPS, satellite connectivity and computer vision AI to automap the yard. (Some of the older models needed wires to be placed. None of that is needed here.)

  Once it is all mapped and you’ve set up the routine in the app, it uses its high-resolution cameras and those computer vision algorithms to avoid obstacles. It also has a 5 TOPS AI chip. Think the basics self-driving tech. 

  We’ve tried everything to get it to run over something. I’ve jumped in front of it. My kids have jumped in front of it. We’ve thrown toys in front of it. It stops and moves around us. Every time. Like a polite little butler with blades. It hasn’t even gotten stuck in the weird little corner between the swingset and the tree. Honestly, impressive. See my video on Instagram to see it in action.

  

• It’s quiet. Creepily quiet. You’ll never hear a robot mower coming for you. Which is either good or extremely unsettling. Personally, I love it. No more engine roar in the background while I’m on a call or pretending to read a book outside. It’s fully electric—no gas motor—which brings us to the next points.

• It’s got a battery problem.  My backyard isn’t huge—around 1,600 square feet—but the Mammotion only gets halfway through mowing before it needs to take a juice break. Back to the dock it goes to charge. That’d be fine, except the dock is big, it has to live outside and I don’t have a nearby outdoor outlet. So now there’s an extension cord snaking across the yard, which is a wonderful tripping hazard. 

• It’s slow. Look, the lawn looks amazing when it’s done. Crisp lines. Chef’s kiss. 👩🏻‍🍳 💋 It even offers something called “lawn tattoos,” where it can carve shapes into the grass. Yes, my kids picked the star. But it really takes a long time to cut this grass down and that’s because it doesn’t have the largest blades on its underside. The robot has to go over the same spots twice. So it takes about two hours to cut the whole backyard—not including the charge. This is a small yard, folks. The company does sell bigger, beefier bots. Oh, I do like that you can adjust the height of the cut grass too. 

I’m not replacing my human lawn mower yet. But interestingly, my reason for not getting a lawn mower robot isn’t related to robotics. It does the job as good and quieter than a human. But it’s slower and requires my backyard to be rewired to make it happen.

The robot revolution shouldn’t require us to rearrange our lives. The robots should fit right in. And that, according to my reporting this summer, is going to take a lot more time and data. More on that in the coming weeks.

Other stuff I’m thinking about…

• Apple’s iOS 26 public beta likely drops tomorrow. I always hold off for public betas so I haven’t messed with any of the developer versions. Question: How much liquid glass is too much liquid glass?

• Amazon bought Bee, the always-recording bracelet I wrote about a few months back. Yep, still wearing it for the AI takeover. Commitment.

• I’ve been testing Perplexity’s new AI-powered Comet browser. It’s almost good enough to pull me away from Microsoft Edge. Yes, I use Edge. On a Mac. I know. Maybe I’ll write about that soon.