A recent Guardian report has revealed concerns around wildlife and use of robotic lawn mowers. Recent studies have highlighted the threat lawnmowers pose to wildlife at night time, and as a result, the mayor of German town Lüneburg has called for a nationwide ban on night-time use of robot lawnmowers to protect hedgehogs and other small nocturnal animals.
With robotic lawn mowers becoming increasingly common across UK and European households, concerns around accidental harm to nocturnal animals, particularly hedgehogs, have intensified.
In response, Segway Navimow has developed advanced AI-enhanced obstacle avoidance systems capable of detecting and avoiding animals in real time.
Using a combination of Vision (Camera) recognition and Point Cloud Avoidance technology powered by LiDAR and ToF sensors on selected models, Navimow mowers can detect animals within a 5-meter range and automatically re-plan their route within 10 milliseconds, ensuring the mower maintains at least a 1-meter distance.
The system can recognise 13 animal types following extensive AI training, including pets such as cats and dogs, livestock including chickens and sheep, and wildlife such as rabbits, birds, foxes, deer and hedgehogs.
According to internal testing, the technology achieves a 95 percent avoidance accuracy rate for hedgehogs and more than 85 percent accuracy for pets including cats and dogs.
George Ren, CEO of Segway Navimow, said: “As robotic lawn mowers become increasingly common in households, users want reassurance that smart lawn care can coexist safely with pets and local wildlife.
“Our AI-powered animal obstacle avoidance technology has been developed to give homeowners greater peace of mind while maintaining effortless lawn maintenance.
“By combining advanced vision systems with LiDAR and ToF-assisted point cloud technology, we are continuing to improve how robotic mowers interact intelligently and responsibly with their environment.”
To further support wildlife protection, Navimow mowers are set by default to operate during daylight hours only. Using GPS-based sunrise and sunset calculations, the system automatically restricts mowing at night to help avoid disturbing nocturnal animals.
The animal obstacle avoidance feature is available across selected Segway Navimow models, including the i2 AWD, i2 LiDAR, i2 LiDAR Pro, H2 and X4 series.
