this post was submitted on 01 May 2024
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Mildly Interesting

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We thought the rider fell off or something and it was going to crash. Then it turned and kept mowing. Park Roomba!

Another picture:

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[–] AllonzeeLV 147 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (5 children)

Automation isn't the enemy.

As ever, the owner class that hoards and wages economic war on you though automation for their exclusive benefit at their society's expense are your enemy, whether you would fight them or not.

Arguing that we should "save" back breaking, repetitive unnatural movement, manual labor jobs that break human bodies by the time they're 40 is the WRONG hill to die on. Fight for the citizenry to reap the benefits of automation through taxation, not to keep shitty jobs robots can do faster and better. Fight to change the economy so that everyone doesn't need meaningless jobs machines can do better so we can have actual time to live our lives.

Taxing the fuck out of automation would let everyone win, because a heavily taxed robot is still far cheaper for the company than a human or possibly several humans for that one robot would be, so automation is here either way. We can riot to change our economy to benefit from this technology as we should, or we can be steamrolled yet again by the dictates of the affluent who will demand and get all the benefits and none of the responsibility if not confronted and countered on revolutionary terms.

Please pick the former. There's no dignity or meaning to be had shuffling boxes around in an Amazon warehouse. Begging the owners to let us try to continue to compete with literal purpose built repetitive labor machines is not the way.

[–] [email protected] 23 points 6 months ago

Fun fact: The Luddites weren’t opposed to technology. In many cases, they built the machines they would later destroy.

What they opposed was the ownership structure. The fact that they could be 30x more productive, yet be paid less than before because the required skill level was lower, and the working conditions were now dangerous and demeaning.

Yet when someone says “luddite” now, what do you think? A dummy who’s afraid of having cool stuff?

[–] [email protected] 20 points 6 months ago

Good points, but I have one thing to add. You shouldn't tax automation. You should increase corporate taxes for all companies. If you funded a UBI with that, it would solve lots of unemployment related problems: crime, poverty, etc. But it's hard, simple but hard.

[–] 3volver 16 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Put the corporate tax rate back up to 40% or more and implement a 10% robot tax on top of that. Then after that, implement a UBI starting at $1000 a month for US citizens with no strings attached, increasing with inflation over time. Solved for the next decade.

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[–] [email protected] 116 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Are these the immigrants that are stealing all our jobs?

[–] [email protected] 47 points 6 months ago (7 children)

This is what people should be fearing. Studies have shown that when immigrants come in and “take jobs”, they pay taxes, and buy goods to create a life here, effectively replacing the job they took (since we need people who make beds for them to sleep in, food for them to eat, etc).

This is automation that’s ACTUALLY taking our jobs. This automation doesn’t pay taxes, and doesn’t replace the job it takes.

[–] [email protected] 43 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Very true, but let's also keep in mind that automation doesn't have to be a social evil. If our economic and political systems were better oriented toward lifting up society's disadvantaged and keeping extreme individual/family wealth in check, automation could benefit all. With better social safety nets (or a UBI), government-sponsored job training (perhaps paid for by taxes on automation), and incentives for starting small businesses, automation could mean less human drudgery in the workforce, and more efficient economic outcomes for all.

I'm not optimistic about that given our track record as a species, but it's possible.

[–] grue 25 points 6 months ago (1 children)

TL;DR: automated production is good if and only if the people own the means.

[–] AllonzeeLV 13 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

If we can fight the owners to keep our shitty back breaking jobs and win, we should have fought the owners to rebuild our economy for automation profits to largely benefit the people from the bottom up.

If we the peasant masses even can win against the tiny owner class oligarchs, lets fight for the right thing. And if we can't win, well then it's all masturbation anyway and they'll do what they want.

It's irrational to fight for "we demand to continue to break our backs making your shit instead of robots so we can continue to subsist on menial laborer wages with broken backs!" in any event. That's some coal miner excuse for logic.

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[–] emilmuzz 46 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (8 children)

My curiosity got the best of me, here's the link to Wright: https://www.wrightmfg.com/products/mowers/commercial/stand-on/robotic-zk/

The Mower

  • 40HP Vanguard Engine
  • Hydro-Gear Smartec Drive-By-Wire 12cc
  • 15.5 Gallon Fuel Capacity
  • Centimeter-level accurate RTK GPS
  • Commercial-grade Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)
  • Depth-sensing object detection cameras
  • Rock-solid wireless emergency stop
  • Remote control mode
  • Live Greenzie support: Call for support while in the field for real-time fixes.

The Software

  • Mow the boundary once, and the mower fills in the rest
  • Remembers maps and can repeat them when you come back. Just place it in the previous boundary.
  • Create no-go zones that will be saved with your map to avoid hitting hard-to-see obstacles like drain covers or small pipes sticking out of the ground.
  • Record and repeat: Record yourself mowing the entire property, and the mower will replicate your movement.
  • Manage the mower with the controller or a smart device in real-time.
  • Advanced fleet support: See how your fleet is performing. Replay entire jobs, not just a dot on the map.
  • Run multiple units at once.
  • Set the stripe angle (for those stunning cross-hatch patterns)
  • Seamless automatic updates
[–] 0110010001100010 24 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Damn, $45k. Though I guess for something like a park it probably has a pretty quick ROI.

[–] glimse 8 points 6 months ago (8 children)

If you want one for your own yard, there are significantly cheaper options. The husqvarna automower is under $1000 and can be integrated into Home Assistant. I've seen a lot of positive opinions about it in the HA communities

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[–] ikidd 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I built an autosteer called AgOpenGPS for our tractors that pretty much does this. Cost about $1000 per unit. We still sit in the tractor because there's a hell of a lot going on besides steering the tractor, but it will drive the entire field without intervention.

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[–] [email protected] 30 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Never seen a gas powered automatic lawnmower, only electric ones.

[–] FlyingSquid 23 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This is the size of a huge riding mower you only see used by parks departments and the like.

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[–] Thcdenton 27 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 26 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (9 children)

You in the US?

Robot lawn mowers are very common in Europe. You'll see these small electric mowers in people's yards all over the place. Businesses also have them running all day out front. Never seen one in the US.

They are equipped with GPS, so they are locked to a specific area to prevent theft.

[–] AquaTofana 11 points 6 months ago

I saw this for the first time in Brussels! Our Airbnb host got a kick over how enthralled 3 American women were over the idea of a lawn roomba 😂.

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[–] TheControlled 24 points 6 months ago (1 children)

"Charles, where'd the puppy go?" Sees this thing

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[–] TropicalDingdong 24 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

Reminds me of this meme:

How many mowers do you think you could get your hands on before they catch you?

[–] MIDItheKID 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Probably one. I would imagine they have some kind of GPS on these.

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[–] [email protected] 22 points 6 months ago

I had a job offer at a place that makes robotic lawnmowers, but they required you to go to Florida and Texas every year for “field testing”. We have sunshine 300 days a year here, and we also don’t have barbaric laws stripping people of their rights, so I turned it down.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 6 months ago

That's one expensive goat.

[–] baatliwala 14 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (3 children)

I don't mean this in a negative way but I swear you're like the Gallowboob of Lemmy, see you everywhere.

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[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

Don't disturb the wildlife.

[–] Everythingispenguins 13 points 6 months ago (10 children)

I think I would have a genuinely hard time not messing with this or trying to ride it. Both which are objectively terrible ideas nonetheless it feels really tempting.

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[–] Fedizen 13 points 6 months ago (5 children)

ok what happens if this hits a child though?

[–] AllonzeeLV 26 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

I imagine they would make excellent fertilizer.

Plays Circle of Life from Lion King

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[–] ChicoSuave 12 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Throw a tennis ball in its path and see what happens. It must be safe, right? Right‽

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Mowing over a tennis ball isn't harmful, I don't see what this would prove.

[–] victorz 8 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Depends who you ask, eh. If your tiny pet gets underneath there it's gonna be a bad day.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago (3 children)

Fortunately, most animals do not willingly go anywhere near running combustion engines.

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[–] FlyingSquid 8 points 6 months ago (3 children)

You really shouldn't be taking your hamster to the park in the first place.

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[–] TokenBoomer 11 points 6 months ago

Tactical EMP’s are necessary now.

[–] dojan 10 points 6 months ago (3 children)

My dog is super fascinated by lawn mower robots. Every time we see one he has to stand and watch for a couple of minutes. I wonder how he'd react to one of this size. Interestingly, he doesn't care much for our robot vacuum. For the most part he avoids it, sometimes he lays down in its way and freaks out when it bumps into him.

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[–] frankgrimeszz 10 points 6 months ago

Took ‘er jerbs

[–] negativenull 10 points 6 months ago (4 children)

I'm a bit late to the party, but you can buy small ones of these for your own yards:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Greenworks-Robotic-Lawn-Mower-1-2-Acre-To-1-Acre/5014505685

I've seen a couple of these on smallish business lawns.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 6 months ago

My Landroid is cool. AMA I guess?

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[–] I_Miss_Daniel 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I'm guessing its mortal enemy is the beach towel.

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[–] Jerb322 7 points 6 months ago (2 children)

First thing I thought of was "Maximum Overdrive ". Loved that movie when I was a kid.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 6 months ago (6 children)

that mechine can throw rocks hundreds of feet. Did it shut itself down like safety demands when you are that close?

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