Random adventures of robo-mowers…now performing again this summer at Juneau’s schools

Steadily plodding across the green yard at Thunder Mountain Middle School a gray machine the size of a bed pillow hums quietly as it cuts the grass with tiny razor-sharp blades. It is one of four automated lawnmowers used by the Juneau School District to maintain nicely manicured lawns.

Explaining how the mower operates, school district maintenance supervisor Mark Ibias tilted one of the mowers on its side to reveal the cutting mechanism that tucks into safety mode when manipulated, hiding the mini blades.

“We put the mowers out in April for the summer,” Ibias said on Friday afternoon. “They’ve been a good investment regardless of the weather. Even in the downpour we had Wednesday, the machines were working.”

Following a demonstration project during one pre-COVID summer, the district realized the programmable machines would be advantageous. The battery-powered electric cutters trim the grass within a defined perimeter created by buried wires that keep the robotic mowers confined to a specific area. Newer models replace the buried wires with satellite GPS edges that only require the owner to walk the boundary with a cell phone to establish the mowing zone.

The auto-mowers create their own random cutting routes rather than follow straight-line patterns, giving them the appearance of having a mind of their own. They can navigate dips in the ground and reverse direction if they encounter certain obstacles. On Friday afternoon a mower at Thunder Mountain groomed an ever-widening circular pattern as if cutting crop circles for its own amusement.

That sense of imagination is reinforced when the cutter rolls itself into its charging station to park when its batteries run down. One machine is affectionately covered with faded children’s stickers like a beloved toy at home.

Three motorized electric lawnmowers are stationed on large grassy expanses around Thunder Mountain. Another machine can be seen cutting the grass beside Egan Drive near Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.At Kalé.

The robotic lawnmowers can be monitored or programmed via cell phone. Similarly, they can send an alert if a problem arises and district staff can respond. Mostly, however, the machines perform their tasks with little intervention by humans. Recently a temporary road maintenance sign was placed inadvertently in the mower’s path downtown by another agency’s worker. The machine stumbled over it and needed to be corrected by the staff.

The automowers look like they might be tempting to steal. That happened once but the machine’s GPS locator revealed the thief’s location ten miles away. It was easy for law enforcement officials to reclaim it.

The robotic cutters can’t do everything, however. Other more complicated vegetated and decorated terrain is cut by skilled maintenance workers using string trimmers or other equipment while the large open lawns are kept spiffy by what one Juneauite calls a “mow-bot.” The school district has been using the four Husqvarna mowers for four or five years.

In areas that were previously knee-high vegetation, the robot mowers create and maintain open spaces for people to enjoy. Dogs occasionally chase the roving cutters and bark at them, but the dogs leave more deposits behind than the mowers do. Ibias urges dog owners to responsibly clean up after their pets to keep the grass green and clean.

The school district’s models are heavy-duty, but manufacturers make robot lawnmowers for home use as well. Some can cut grass on steep slopes that might be problematic for push or riding mowers.

The electric mowers work every day, recharging after a few hours on the job. A quick glance might make an observer think of a large gray turtle scuttling slowly across a lawn, but it’s just an auto mower doing its work.

• Contact Laurie Craig at laurie.craig@juneauempire.com.