It is a rare day when I don't receive at least one e-mail announcing the release of a "revolutionary" new tech product. The bar for revolutions must be plummeting, however, since most of these gadgets are nothing more than toys for adults (from hand-powered battery chargers to GPS-enabled archery sets). Once in a while, a technology does change the way we look at the world: the automobile, the airplane, the telephone, and the washing machine certainly fit this category. (Yes, the washing machine. Before 1908, when electric washers made their way into homes, women spent a distressing portion of their lives surrounded by a washboard, a wringer, and a bucket of water.)
Today, with cell phones that function as computers and computers that function as home entertainment centers, many people act as if there are no worlds left to conquer. Evidently, they have never had to mow a lawn, the abiding suburban curse. At best, cutting the lawn is a waste of time. For people like me, with allergies to what seems like every known type of grass, a lawn mower is nothing more than an elaborate torture device.
Unless, of course, it's the LawnBott. The LawnBott is exactly what it sounds like: a robot that mows your lawn. But this one is powered by electricity and looks like a toy race car (the top model costs about $3,250). It comes with an enormous coil of wire and a covered charging station; together they are no bigger than a doghouse. You simply plant the wire around the perimeter of your lawn, plug the LawnBott in, charge it up, and let it loose. (The wire transmits a faint signal that tells it where and where not to mow, kind of like an electric cattle fence.) The mower comes with a remote, but it also has a Bluetooth connection so you can operate it via your cell phone. To update the software, simply download it from the Internet. And the annual cost of gas? Zero.
Robots move in mysterious ways. With no memory, the LawnBott wanders around the lawn like a drunk, in random spirals, its sensors searching for grass in need of a trim. When it bumps into something firm — a tree, a rock, or even the paw of a sleeping dog — the machine quickly retreats. (For other off-limit areas, like rose gardens and pools, you need to deploy the perimeter wire.) The LawnBott can run for about three hours on a single charge. When it's feeling weak, the little engine simply mows on over to the charging station and plugs itself back in. Really. It will also hightail it back to shelter as soon as it starts to rain.
Steel yourself though, because there is a bit of a learning curve. And the manual, which is one of the least comprehensible texts ever published, doesn't help: "Important: The sensitivity of the sensor increases with a decrease in the distance between the pins." Naturally. You can also take the technophobic (and cowardly) way out: The company will analyze any faxed drawings of your lawn and then somebody will call you to help establish your no-mow zone.
