Can’t someone else do it?

Mowing the lawn. For some, it is a medi­ta­tive routine for a Saturday morning. Others see it as back­breaking drudgery and a waste of valu­able free time. All gardeners belonging to the second cate­gory will be pleased to hear that Amer­ican company John Deere, together with its German subsidiary SABO, is now offering a conve­nient solu­tion: the auto­matic lawn­mower. The small appli­ance drives under its own power along a prede­fined area of lawn up to 1,800 square metres in size and mows it evenly. It is powered by a battery that can charge itself if required.

“Along with the time saving that our auto­matic lawn­mowers grant, they are also very effi­cient and quiet”, explains Sven Hahnenkamp, Product Manager at John Deere. Two advan­tages that are down to ebm-papst.” John Deere USA approached our Amer­ican subsidiary and requested two motors with trans­mis­sions for the wheel motors and a motor to drive the mower blade”, recalls Markus Flaig, Project Manager for indus­trial drive devel­op­ment at ebm-papst St. Georgen.

Every low-consump­tion compo­nent improves the running time of the lawn­mower
Markus Flaig, ebm-papst

These motors need to fulfil a range of require­ments. The wheel motors must deliver as much power as possible in a compact space, whilst keeping energy consump­tion low. “Every low-consump­tion compo­nent improves the running time of the lawn­mower”, explains Markus Flaig. In the end, the project part­ners decided on a compact ECI-42 motor with trans­mis­sion, which was adjusted precisely to the needs of John Deere in a pilot project. The high effi­ciency of the motor-trans­mis­sion combi­na­tion enables the robot to easily master uneven surfaces and inclines of up to 35 percent.

Video (in German)

The blade motor is taken from the ECI-63 modular kit. This dynamic motor starts quickly and stops within the required two seconds when the user lifts the robot from the ground, an impor­tant feature that prevents injuries. The motor’s low imbal­ance means that the blades run smoothly and do not start to jitter. This is reflected above all in the noise level. The lower the vibra­tion in the blade, the quieter the mower goes about its busi­ness. The auto­matic lawn­mower is now so quiet, it can be used at any time of day or night. Mean­while, its owners can enjoy the summer and let the robot take care of the lawn.