Honda today launched its first prototype battery-powered electric autonomous zero-turn riding mower (yes, it actually drives itself). The new prototype is called the Honda Autonomous Work Mower (AWM). Honda says it successfully field-tested a proof of concept version of the AWM with a US commercial landscape company earlier this year. Next year, it’s going to launch a pilot program in which it’s looking for companies to test out the AWM in the field (literally). The AWM can be manually driven, or it can operate in autonomous mode. The operator sets up autonomous operation by using a “Teaching” mode in which the mower is driven to create a mowing route map using a global navigation satellite system (GNSS). The AWM can learn multiple mowing routes and patterns that it then saves to a cloud server. Once a route is saved, the operator launches the AWM’s autonomous operation in “Playback” mode. With the AWM in the starting position, the operator downloads the specified mowing route map using a tablet or smartphone. The AWM then begins autonomous operation and mows according to the map route. Honda says its AWM can maintain straight tracking on hills and rough terrain with two-motor traction control that keeps the tires from slipping. It also has four radar and four LiDAR sensors for obstacle detection. The AWM automatically reduces blade rotation at low speeds and low loads to reduce power consumption. At high loads, the AWM automatically reduces its speed to prevent grass clogging and uncut grass.
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