Autonomous lawncare specialists Greenzie passed a major milestone with their self-driving mowers last week, surpassing 255,000 cumulative robomowing miles. For context, that’s far enough to mow every inch of space between the Earth and Moon.
Greenzie announced the self-driving milestone last week, and it’s genuinely impressive, reflecting Greenzie Powered Autonomy mowing more than 9 billion (with a b) square feet of turf across more than 200 commercial customers, 45 US states, and more than 500,000 equivalent man-hours of mowing.
And, while I might have pointed the fact that Greenzie mowers have covered more miles in its press release than Daimler’s entire hydrogen truck fleet, the company really seems to be leaning into the Moon angle.
“We mowed to the moon, but the real achievement is the commercial experience behind those miles,” says Charles Brian Quinn, co-founder and CEO of Greenzie and almost definitely the guy who first came up with the lunar lawncare line. “Every mile represents equipment working on real properties with commercial crews. That experience has shaped our technology, strengthened our OEM partnerships and taught us how to help customers successfully integrate autonomy into their daily operations.”
Greenzie develops autonomous packages for, and maintains OEM relationships with electric brands Mean Green Electric Mowers (whose Vanquish Autonomous commercial mower is shown, above), and Greenworks Commercial, as well as gas-powered brands like Bobcat and Wright Manufacturing. Regardless of what powers the mowers, Greenzie supplies the self-driving technology and integration expertise, while its OEM partners develop and manufacture the equipment that does the actual cutting, clearing, and whatever else their clients need.
“Successful autonomy requires more than capable technology,” said Steve Bush, chief operating officer of Greenzie. “Customers need to understand where autonomy fits into their operations, how to prepare their crews and how to measure success. We have spent years learning those lessons alongside our customers and OEM partners, creating a more consistent path to adoption as the industry grows.”
Mean Green Vanquish Autonomous
The Mean Green Vanquish Autonomous featured gere is a fully electric, stand-on, zero-turn (ZTR) mower built around an all-day-ready 22 kWh li-ion battery pack and featuring a 60″ rear-discharge mulching deck.
Mean Green claims that the combination of big battery and the electric motors that drive the ZTR mower and spin up its blades are good up to eight hours of continuous mowing on a charge, with an aluminum chassis and deck helping to keep the machine’s overall weight down for easier towing maximum efficiency.
The company says the mower can operate in either manual or autonomous mode, with Greenzie’s self-driving software supported by six depth-sensing stereo cameras providing 360-degree vision, RTK-corrected GPS, and visual-inertial odometry for onboard site mapping and precise positioning, which Greenzie says allows the mower to detect obstacles up to twenty feet away, recognize designated keep-out zones, and automatically return to its starting point when called back.
A top speed of 11.5 mph and the ability to repeat saved mowing routes, the Vanquish is designed to give commercial landscaping crews another productive worker without adding another person to the payroll … which, with a $60,000 asking price, is money they will probably still need.
Let’s get some pro-labor rage going in the comments, and don’t forget to mention what kind of paycheck you’d need to get to go work in landscaping 2,000+ hours a year while you’re there.
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SOURCE | IMAGES: Greenzie; Mean Green.
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