LM Exclusive: Greenzie partners with Bobcat on autonomous mower

“Through our research, it became really apparent that Greenzie was one of the leaders in this space, and someone that could really help us to augment what we’re doing in our journey for autonomy and helping customers out there be more productive on the job site in their backyards,” Joel Honeyman, vice president of global innovation with Doosan Bobcat told LM.

Greenzie and Bobcat partnered on an autonomous zero-turn mower. Charles Brian Quinn, “CBQ,” Greenzie CEO and co-founder said through conversations with landscapers in the industry, landscapers told him that the most helpful feature would be to have an autonomous option on a standard mower.

“That’s our actual big goal is to add autonomous software and technology to all existing mowers,” Quinn told LM.

Quinn said this mower utilizes Greenzie’s software with autonomous technology Bobcat designed. This is Bobcat’s first foray into mower automation.

“Our customers have many job openings that they cannot fill, so having trusted equipment, equipment that is rugged, reliable, and now can be automated is a win for all of our mutual customers,” Quinn said. “The team at Bobcat is super innovative, they move fast, just like us. And they are very customer focused.”

Honeyman said this mower is a standard zero-turn mower with autonomous capabilities. A user can mow with the mower or deploy the automation technology as needed.

“It’s not that everybody does everything autonomous,” Honeyman said. “Someone can jump on this mower and they can get their jobs done. But when they don’t have labor or choose not to be in the machine, they can put it in autonomous mode and work that way as well.”

Designed to operate with software developed by Greenzie, the Bobcat autonomous mower has a ride-and-repeat feature, where operators can plot a course and mark areas for the mower to avoid during autonomous operations. According to Bobcat, the mower can detect objects as the zero-turn mower travels its prescribed path while the operator can take on other tasks and maximize job site efficiency. A simple smartphone app manages these functions.

Equip Expo attendees will get a chance to see the mower in both of Bobcat’s indoor (No. 3052) and outdoor (No. 7506D) booths. Honeyman and Quinn encourage those in Louisville to come by both booths and see the mower in action.

“We just encourage everyone to stop by and ask us questions. Take a look and see what the future of mowing and the future of work will be,” Honeyman said. “We just want to show how simple the technology can be to operate. I think people think about this new technology to be very complicated and complex. it. It’s a simple app on your phone. You drive it calculates, and it goes and so this is a very simple technology that can really benefit people very quickly in the field and is repeatable.”

Quinn says automation isn’t for every landscaping operation, but it is a solution for those operations struggling to fill key roles on mowing crews.

“It’s all about maximizing your efficiency,” he said. “Is it right for everybody? Maybe and maybe not. We think it’s right for a lot of landscapers who are doing great work out there making beautiful landscapes. Come as us hard questions. Come kick the tires. We would love to we would love to show you how it works.”