Wire-free robot mowers: RTK, LiDAR and AI vision compared
How wire-free robot mowers find their way without a boundary wire, and which navigation suits an open lawn, a garden with trees or a complex yard.
A wire-free robot mower has to know where it is, where the lawn ends and what is in its way, without the wire that older mowers followed. Three technologies do this, alone or together. Here is how each works and where each struggles.
RTK satellite positioning
Satellite positioning on its own is accurate to a few metres, too coarse to mow along a flower bed. RTK (real-time kinematic) positioning corrects it to within a few centimetres, using a fixed reference antenna in the garden or, with network RTK, corrections sent over the mobile network. The mower knows exactly where it is, mows in straight, even stripes and stays inside the boundary drawn in the app.
RTK needs a view of the open sky. Under dense trees, beside tall buildings or in a narrow side passage the signal can drop, and the mower slows or stops until it recovers. It works day and night and is not affected by light.
LiDAR
LiDAR measures distances with laser light, scanning the surroundings many times a second to build a 3D map. The mower places itself against that map, so it keeps working under trees and beside walls where satellite signals fail, and it sees obstacles in the dark. It is the most robust system for complex gardens, and usually the most expensive.
AI vision
Cameras with image recognition see the lawn as a person does: where the grass ends, and whether the object ahead is a toy, a hedgehog or a garden hose. Vision is excellent at avoiding obstacles and needs no antenna, but cameras need light, so camera-only mowers work best in daylight, and a lawn that blends into a meadow is harder to read.
Combined systems
The newest mowers combine technologies so that one covers for another's weakness: RTK for precise positioning, LiDAR under trees and AI vision to recognise obstacles. Among the 73 robot mower ranges we track:
| Navigation | Ranges | For example |
|---|---|---|
| RTK, LiDAR and AI vision | 14 | Anthbot M5 LiDAR, Anthbot M5 PRO, Anthbot M9 PRO |
| RTK and AI vision | 22 | Anthbot Genie, Anthbot M5, Anthbot M9 |
| LiDAR (with or without vision) | 9 | ECOVACS GOAT A2000 LiDAR PRO, ECOVACS GOAT A3000 LiDAR PRO, ECOVACS GOAT O1000 LiDAR PRO |
| AI vision only | 9 | Dreame A3 AWD, Dreame A3 AWD Pro, MOVA Lidax Pro |
| RTK only | 9 | GARDENA SILENO free, Husqvarna Automower 410 iQ, Husqvarna Automower 420 iQ |
Which suits your garden
- An open lawn with few trees: RTK alone is precise and economical.
- Trees, buildings or narrow passages: LiDAR, or RTK combined with LiDAR, keeps the mower working where satellite signals fail.
- Children, pets and garden clutter: AI vision recognises and avoids obstacles best.
- A large or complex property: a combined system, with a mobile data connection to reach the mower anywhere on the plot.
Compare every model by navigation, lawn size and slope in the robot lawn mower comparison.
Questions
Is RTK or LiDAR better for a robot mower?
RTK is precise and needs no extra sensors on open lawns with a clear view of the sky; LiDAR keeps working under trees and beside buildings where satellite signals are blocked. Many new mowers combine both, with AI vision for obstacles.
Does an RTK robot mower need a base station?
Most do: a reference antenna placed in the garden sends corrections to the mower. Some brands also offer network RTK, which takes corrections over the mobile network instead of a local antenna.
Do vision-only robot mowers work at night?
Camera-based mowers need light to see; some have lights for dusk mowing, but they work best in daylight. RTK and LiDAR do not depend on light.