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Wire, RTK or vision: what you have to install
Updated
Every robot mower needs to know where your lawn ends. A boundary wire does it with a cable you lay around the edge. RTK mowers use satellites plus a correction signal, which may mean mounting an antenna. LiDAR and camera mowers map the yard with their own sensors. The right one depends on your trees and on how much work you want up front.
Side by side
| Type | What you install | Good at | Weak spot | Our picks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boundary wire | Wire around every edge and bed, held by pegs or buried | Works under trees and with no signal | Setup work, and a cut wire stops it | Gardena SILENO City |
| RTK with a local antenna or station | An antenna or reference station with a clear view of the sky, plus power | Straight lines, zones drawn in an app | Heavy tree cover and tall walls can block satellites | Segway Navimow i105N, Husqvarna Automower 410iQ |
| Cloud RTK | Nothing extra, per the listing | Less to mount | Still needs sky view and a data connection for the correction signal | WORX Landroid Vision Cloud WR320 |
| LiDAR and cameras | Nothing extra, per the listings | Shade and tree cover | Newer tech. Owner feedback mentions mapping and stuck-mower trouble | ECOVACS GOAT A2000 LiDAR PRO, Mammotion LUBA mini 2 AWD 1500H |
What each of our picks needs
- Husqvarna Automower 410iQ. Husqvarna's page says a reference station comes in the box. Where Husqvarna Cloud is offered, you may not need it. An owner quoted on the listing says as much. Check your address on Husqvarna's page before you plan the install.
- Segway Navimow i105N. A GNSS antenna kit, an antenna mounting kit and an extension cable with pegs are in the box. The antenna needs open sky. Navimow says its camera takes over when the satellite signal is weak.
- WORX Landroid Vision Cloud WR320. The listing says RTK comes from the cloud, with no local antenna and no added cloud costs. In shade, it switches to camera-based positioning.
- ECOVACS GOAT A2000 LiDAR PRO. The listing says no perimeter wire and no RTK antenna. Dual LiDAR builds the map. The caveat: some owners say it gets stuck often.
- Mammotion LUBA mini 2 AWD 1500H. 360 degree LiDAR plus two cameras. The listing names no antenna. It also has a DropMow mode that mows without a saved map.
- Gardena SILENO City. Wire and pegs are in the box. You lay it around the lawn edge and around beds you want it to skip. Owners say the wire install is the hard part.
How to choose
- Lots of mature trees? Lean toward LiDAR or wire. RTK mowers with vision backup can cope with some shade, and owners of the Husqvarna say it struggles under trees.
- Open, sunny lawn? Any type works. RTK gives you zones and straight stripes.
- Want the least setup? Cloud RTK or LiDAR, per the listings.
- Weak Wi-Fi in the yard? Check what the app needs. The WORX listing names RadioLink for range beyond Wi-Fi.
Whichever type you pick, the area on the box still depends on your layout. Check it with the calculator.
Check your own yard with the capacity calculator, or compare all six picks on the best robot mowers page.