• 2 min read
Roborock’s LiDAR Mower Skips Satellites
Roborock’s RockMow X120H maps lawns with 360-degree LiDAR, skips guide wires and satellites, and covers half an acre for $3,200.
Image: Gizmodo
Roborock’s new RockMow X120H is a large autonomous lawnmower designed to cover up to half an acre in a day—without guide wires or a satellite connection. It maps the lawn independently and uses a roof-mounted 360-degree LiDAR scanner for navigation.
The mower is priced at $3,200, although Roborock is currently selling it on Amazon for an introductory $2,500. That puts it in direct competition with Segway’s $2,500 Navimow X430, which promises coverage of a full acre.
© Roborock
© Roborock
© Roborock
Recommended reading
One Dyson appliance replaces a heater and fan
© Roborock
RockMow X120H navigation and cutting features
The X120H combines LiDAR with a vision camera for AI-based obstacle avoidance. Roborock says it can manage slopes of up to 38.7 degrees, cut within 3 centimeters of a wall edge, and climb obstacles as high as 3.1 inches.
Unlike the Navimow X430, it does not use network RTK for navigation. The mower does include three years of free 4G connectivity, allowing owners to track it remotely.
Roborock lists the drivetrain as both four-wheel drive and all-wheel drive on the mower’s Amazon listing. Its knobby tires are paired with a Dynamic Suspension System, including a terrain-adaptive chassis and dual independent springs. A floating cutting deck is intended to maintain a consistent height across uneven ground.
The deck adjusts from 1.6 inches to 3.5 inches. That is a narrower range than the X430's 0.75-to-4-inch adjustment range, although the practical difference between a 3.5-inch and 4-inch maximum may be limited. Cutting a lawn to an inch or less is also not considered ideal by everyone.
The X120H has an IPX6 waterproof rating, so it can withstand powerful water jets and be hosed off when dirty.
This could be you. © Roborock
Price and competition
The X120H’s LiDAR system could give it an advantage on complicated lawns, particularly because the Navimow X430 had difficulty automatically mapping a complex yard in testing. The Segway model relies on satellites and its vision camera, while Roborock’s mower is designed to map without either a satellite connection or guide wires.
Whether that makes the X120H sufficiently easier to use to justify its $600 higher regular price remains to be seen. For now, the RockMow X120H is available on Amazon for $2,500 at its introductory price.
Frontier Editor
Dan is our resident futurist, covering electric mobility, space exploration, and the smart home. He's interested in atoms just as much as bits. Whether it's a new battery chemistry, a reusable rocket, or a protocol that finally makes IoT devices talk to each other, Dan breaks down the engineering that pushes humanity forward.
via Gizmodo
