City of Tyler's Electric Mower Investment Caught in Action

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – The City of Tyler’s new autonomous lawn mowers were put into action Thursday maintaining Faulkner Park.

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The city’s $55,000 investment in each autonomous robot lawn mower is expected to reduce the time and labor required to maintain the fleet over the summer. According to a release, the purchase was approved in last year’s budget.

City officials said while the tested and safe machines mow, employees can focus on other tasks.

In response to some concerns about the possibility of the mowers hitting something, Faulkner Park Manager Ivan Angon explained how the mowers are programmed to avoid that.

“They have a distance of 10 to 15 feet where they have a sensor for obstacles or anything in the way,” Angon said. “They have five feet to the sides, if something gets in their way they stop until the obstacle is removed or they go around.”

The next time residents visit the park, they may see the autonomous mowers in operation.

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